Alabama walked away from the BCS championship game last week with a 21-0 victory over LSU, but the joy of their second BCS title in three years has been dampened by a viral video showing an Alabama fan sexually assaulting an unconscious LSU fan.
Some background: the video taken from a cell phone first appeared on the YouTube channel for “BamaSportsForum” (which has since been deleted) and was picked up by Deadspin.com two days ago. The incident took place at a Krystal restaurant on Bourbon Street the night of the BCS championship game.
The video, about five minutes long, features several Alabama fans hazing, poking and taking pictures of the unconscious man. Then, one individual exposes himself and places his genitals on the unconscious fan before a restaurant employee steps in to disperse the crowd.
The video, as one could imagine, has caused an outrage among both programs and fan bases, and at least one local figure wants a criminal investigation of the incident. From WDSU in New Orleans:“The fact that it could happen with that additional amount of police officers being available is absolutely appalling and the reaction to it, to me, is pretty appalling,” said Dale Standifier with the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children.
New Orleans police said their Sex Crimes Unit was aware of the incident and was waiting to be contacted by the victim before taking action.
“The man was obviously passed out, intoxicated and unable to defend himself, and he was assaulted,” Standifier said. “He was sexually assaulted, and humiliated and tormented while people cheered, and he shouldn’t have to stand up for himself and say, ‘I want to press charges.’ The city should be pressing charges and trying to move forward. If you had a murder victim, you can’t expect the victim himself, the corpse, to testify.”
Remi Braden, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, says the head of the Sex Crimes Unit is aware of the video and has reviewed it, but that all involved, including the victim, are unknown and no one has come forward to file a complaint.
“In sexual assault cases, victims make the ultimate decision to inform police so that we can thoroughly investigate a situation.Should that person in this video decide to come to us, we will launch a complete investigation,” Braden said.
Alabama has issued a statement on the video, which reads:
“UA hopes that our fans will act with class and dignity and we are disappointed when they don’t. We are aware of the video... and will appropriately deal with any student who might have been involved.”
It’s unknown if the individual who assaulted the fan is a student at Alabama.
LSU has chosen not to comment on the video at this time.