Sean Urbanski; Richard Collins III (Twitter)

Updated Monday, May 22, 2017, 9:02 p.m. EDT: During a press conference Monday, Angela D. Alsobrooks, state attorney for Prince George’s County, Md., said that Sean Urbanski’s motives for stabbing Richard Collins III to death were still unclear, the New York Times reports.


“We do not have enough evidence to say conclusively whether this is a hate crime,” she said. “What we can say is that we will leave no stone unturned.”

As previously reported by The Root, Urbanski is a member of the white supremacist Facebook group Alt-Reich: Nation.


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

Urbanski is being held without bail.



Earlier:

Sean Christopher Urbanski, 22, has been charged with assault and first- and second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Bowie State University student Richard Collins III, 23. The FBI is investigating whether the killing was a hate crime.



Urbanski is a member of the white supremacist Facebook group Alt-Reich: Nation, NBC 4 Washington reports.

The completely random and unprovoked attack took place on the University of Maryland’s campus at approximately 3 a.m. Saturday near a bus stop. Collins was rushed to a local hospital with a stab wound to the chest and was later pronounced dead.


From NBC 4 Washington:

Court documents obtained by News4 say Collins was waiting for the university’s shuttle bus with his friends when they realized the shuttle bus had stopped running for the night. The three decided to call an Uber and were waiting for one to arrive when they heard Urbanski screaming nearby, the documents said. Collins and his friends watched Urbanski as he approached them. According to court documents, “Urbanski said, ‘Step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.’ Collins III said, ‘No’ as Urbanski continue to approach.” One of Collins’ friends noticed Urbanski was holding a knife with a 3 to 4 inch silver blade as the suspect stabbed Collins once in the chest area, documents said. The friend ran toward Baltimore Avenue as she called 911 and asked the Uber driver to call 911. Other witnesses stayed with Collins and tried to help him until police and medics arrived.


Urbanski, who was allegedly intoxicated—with alcohol or hate—was still sitting about 50 feet away from where he stabbed Collins when authorities arrived. He was taken into custody by the University of Maryland Police Department.

“It never gets any worse than this,” University of Maryland Police Chief David Mitchell said at a news conference Saturday afternoon. “When I sat with the victim’s father, who is a military veteran, and his pastor and we shed tears together ... I can tell you, it rips your heart out.”




Mitchell said that he is also investigating Alt-Reich: Nation on Facebook.

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


These radicalized white supremacists are a danger to us all.

“We are looking forward to the quickest investigation as possible,” Artie Lee Travis, Bowie State’s vice president for student affairs, said to the Baltimore Sun. “Hate has no place in America. Hate has no place on a college campus where young minds are coming together to try to change the world.”




Collins was a senior at Bowie State and set to graduate on Tuesday with a degree in business administration. He was recently commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

Bowie State officials are planning a moment of silence for him.

Read more at NBC 4 Washington and the Baltimore Sun.