Nottingham Trent University ‘racism’ latest: Two arrests after black student Rufaro Chisango 'subjected to tirade of racist abuse' at NTU halls

The university has launched an urgent investigation into the footage posted online by a student
Chloe Chaplain9 March 2018

A black university student captured on video the moment she was apparently subjected to a tirade of sickening racist abuse as she was left hiding in her dorm room.

Posts on Twitter appear to show the student cowering in her bedroom as shouts of “we hate the black people” and “f*** the blacks” can be heard the other side of her door.

The Nottingham Trent Uni student, named Rufaro Chisango, said she was too scared to leave her room during the shocking incident and complained to management at her accommodation.

But she said they had not dealt with the issue, sparking criticism that the university should have acted sooner.

Victim: The student, known as Ruu on her Twitter, said she hid in her room
@rufarochisango_

The university has launched an urgent investigation into the video.

Nottinghamshire Police said two 18-year-old men had been arrested in connection with the video and remained in police custody on Thursday morning.

In the minute-long video clip, posted on Wednesday, at least two men are heard shouting "we hate the blacks" and making other racist comments.

In a post on her Twitter account, Ms Chisango said reception staff at her halls of residence had told her that Monday night's incident would be "dealt with" but by Wednesday night she had heard nothing from them.

Writing on Twitter, Ms Chisango said: "I'm fuming, the way people in the same uni halls as me are chanting 'we hate the blacks' outside my bedroom door. Words cannot describe how sad this makes me feel, in this 2018 people think this is still acceptable.

"Okay this happened Monday night, the video wasn't able to catch what else they were saying which was 'blacks would go back to picking cotton'.

"I'm the only black person on my floor and they were chanting this outside my door so don't be surprised to why I didn't leave my room."

Other chants captured by the video include "We are the black haters" and "Sign the Brexit papers".

Abuse: She filmed herself hiding behind her bedroom door as the chants could be heard outside

At one point during the video, a female interrupts the chants, saying “leave her alone” and shouting “black and white people together”.

The shocking footage went viral, with north London MP David Lammy replying to Ms Chisango urging her to contact her local politician.

“Please contact the Police and your Member of Parliament and cc me in. All my love and solidarity,” he wrote.

After several people hit out at the university for not instantly removing the suspected perpetrators, Nottingham Trent tweeted saying: "We are investigating this as a matter of urgency. We are taking this extremely seriously and do not tolerate behaviour like this."

In a longer statement, a spokeswoman for the university added that it was "shocked and appalled" at the video.

The statement read: "This kind of vile behaviour will not be tolerated. Those suspected perpetrators have been suspended immediately pending a full investigation. We have contacted the student who made the complaint and are providing support to her and others affected. And we will be liaising with the police about this incident."

The statement added: "We value being a diverse global community, with staff and students from across the world.

"We are also working with our accommodation partner to understand why the university was only alerted to this on Wednesday evening after this was reported to them in the very early hours of Tuesday."

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