Summary: The white student who allegedly rubbed a used tampon on her black roommate’s backpack was not charged with a hate crime.
A former college student who tortured her black roommate in order to get her to move out was not charged with a hate crime, NBC News reported.
Brianna Brochu, 18, shocked people when she bragged online that she got her roommate to move out after contaminating her things. For instance, Brochu said she spit in the roommate’s coconut oil, rubbed used tampons on the girl’s backpack, and stuck the roommate’s belongings “where the sun doesn’t shine.”
On Monday, Brochu appeared in Hartford Superior Court and pled not guilty to charges of criminal mischief and breach of peace. Civil rights advocates had asked that a hate crime charge be added, but Brochu’s lawyer said that his client’s actions were not racially motivated. The two girls just didn’t get along.
The roommate, Chennel “Jazzy” Rowe, posted a video on Facebook and described how she had been getting sick in the short period of time that the two girls lived together. She added that doctors were unable to diagnose why she was experiencing illness, which included a sore throat.
After Brochu’s admission in October, the University of Hartford expelled her. In Brochu’s post, which she wrote on Instagram, she called Rowe “Jamaican Barbie,” but she told a newspaper that what she did was foolish but not racist.
“I think that when it’s all said and done, what you’re going to see is that there was nothing racist that motivated this,” Brochu’s attorney Tom Steven said. “These were two students who were placed together … who didn’t like each other … and it escalated.”
According to the Hartford Courant, Brochu claims that her biological warfare against her roommate was a result of Rowe being rude to her and posting video of her snoring. Rowe told police that Brochu mostly ignored her before she was granted a room change request in October. That’s when Brochu published her Instagram admission.
“Finally did it yo girl got rid of her roommate!! After 1 1/2 month of spitting in her coconut oil, putting moldy clam dip in her lotions, rubbing used tampons [on] her backpack, putting her toothbrush places where the sun doesn’t shine and so much more I can finally say goodbye Jamaican Barbie,” Brochu wrote.
Brochu had requested a trial by jury. Her case will be continued on January 29.
NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile told the Courant that they were disappointed Brochu was not charged with a hate crime.
“We expect [the prosecutors] to fight on behalf of the people of our community,” Esdaile said. “This is a hate crime. Let’s stop playing games. Let’s stop pushing this away.”
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