Portland police announced Tuesday they're suspending an investigation into the reported assault of a Lewis & Clark student.

The announcement comes three weeks after student Tanguy Muvuna said publicly on campus that he didn't want to pursue prosecution against the men who he said attacked him because of the color of his skin. He also said then that he forgave them.

Bias crimes detectives are halting their inquiry because Muvuna doesn't want to participate in the investigation or any prosecution, police said in a statement.

"Detectives have followed up every lead in this case and the investigation into racially offensive language posted on the social media site 'Yik Yak' and no suspects have been identified in either incident,'' the police said.

Muvuna, a 26-year-old from Rwanda who received a 2015-16 scholarship to attend Lewis & Clark's English Studies program, had described the Nov. 21 attack in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive.

He had been walking near the outdoor swimming pool on campus about 12:20 a.m. when three white men approached, asked him "what's up'' and used the N-word, he said. They continued to make derogatory racial remarks as one held him from behind. One slapped, punched and kicked him, and the three forced him to drink an unknown liquid, he said. Muvuna was able to run back to his dorm and alerted a friend, who notified campus security.

Although in an interview he said he wanted his assailants to be held responsible for the assault, Muvuna days later said he didn't want to pursue court action.

"Those who attacked me, I forgive them,'' he told the student body on Nov. 24. If they're students, he said he wanted them to finish their studies and make their families and country proud.

Detectives had contact with Muvuna on numerous occasions and interviewed several other people as part of the inquiry.

"At this point, there is no further investigating for detectives to conduct without new information,'' the police release said.

The reported attack also occurred in the wake of derogatory posts on the social media site "Yik Yak.''

Police said they don't know if the posts "had any direct connection'' to the assault reported by Muvuna.

"Those posts were reported to police on Tuesday November 17, and were general in nature, containing racially insensitive terminology and hashtags. Nothing in the posts represented an immediate threat to students or staff at the college,'' the police statement said.

Police asked anyone with new information about the incidents to contact Detective Todd Prosser at 503-823-9320, or todd.prosser@portlandoregon.gov.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian