Stabbing of black college student investigated as hate crime

On Sunday, a white student at the University of Maryland was charged in the fatal stabbing of a black student, who was visiting campus and only days from graduating. The incident is now being investigated as a hate crime.

Sean C. Urbanski, 22, was charged with assault and first- and second-degree murder after stabbing Richard W. Collins III, 23, who was a student at Bowie State University. Collins had recently been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army and was going to graduate on Tuesday.

Collins was waiting for an Uber with friends when Urbanski suddenly approached him and said, “Step left, step left if you know what’s good for you.” Collins reportedly responded, “No” and Urbanski then stabbed him in the chest.

This is 2nd Lt. Richard Wilbur Collins III. Police say he was fatally stabbed by a suspect who belongs to "Alt-Reich" Facebook group #WBAL pic.twitter.com/46pQU42kKn — Vanessa Herring (@VanessaHerring) May 22, 2017

David Mitchell, the chief of the University of Maryland Police Department, told The Baltimore Sun that Urbanski had been a member of the “Alt-Reich Nation,” a Facebook group that was filled with racist posts.

“When I look at the information that’s contained on that website, suffice it to say that it’s despicable,” he said. “It shows extreme bias against women, Latinos, persons of Jewish faith and especially African-Americans.”

Gordon Johnson, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I. field office in Baltimore, said in a news conference that the stabbing was being investigated by the bureau as a possible hate crime.

“If I’m a person of color, I would certainly look at this as something that could happen to me,” Mitchell said, noting that the attack had brought up a spirit of fear at the university.