A Penn State student faces charges after he swung a knife at another student he had taunted for speaking Spanish, the State College Police Department said.
Robert Skinner, 22, is charged with one count of felony aggravated assault, one count each of a misdemeanor simple assault and ethnic intimidation and one count of a summary offense harassment.
He was arrested in connection with an incident that occurred at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday outside of the Acacia fraternity house, 234 Locust Lane, police said.
No one was injured as a result of the incident, police said.
Skinner, of Hermitage, Pa., did not return an e-mail requesting comment by press time Wednesday.
Juan Jafit Morales, the student Skinner approached, said he was walking with two friends near Highland Avenue and Locust Lane when Skinner confronted him for speaking Spanish and asked where he was from.
Morales (senior-industrial engineering) said he told Skinner he was from Colombia.
Skinner then made derogatory statements about Morales' ethnicity, Morales said.
Skinner began to argue and eventually pulled a knife on the student, swinging it at him, Morales said. Morales said he ducked out of the way in time to avoid being cut, but the blade did slice his shirt.
Police said a witness told them Skinner threatened to stab the student, then threw a bottle of liquor on him and charged at him with the knife. The witness told police Skinner then ran into the Acacia fraternity house, police said.
But in a statement provided to police, Skinner denied swinging the blade at Morales.
Skinner told police an argument broke out between three other men and him, and one of the men began swinging punches at him, police said. Skinner said he pulled a knife out and told the men to leave and also said he made comments to the other men that denounced their Colombian heritage, police said.
Skinner was taken to the Centre County Correctional Facility on Wednesday after he was arrested at the Acacia fraternity house and released for 10 percent of his $35,000 bail, jail officials said.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 8 at the Centre County Courthouse, according to court documents.
University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) President and former UPUA Student Life and Diversity Chairman Christian Ragland called news of the incident an "eye-opener" and said he was sorry to hear about the conflict. Ragland (senior-political science) said similar incidents are probably often underreported, and he wants to take this as a cue that Penn State needs to work harder to improve race relations and educate students about diversity.
Morales said many minority students are targeted because of their heritage and their problems too often go unnoticed.
