SFA

HOUSTON – A Houston student whose dorm room at Stephen F. Austin State University was stormed last year has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the school and her former roommates. Investigators said officers barged into Christin Evans’ dorm room on Sept. 14, 2020, after campus police received a call from the community advisor at the dorm, saying a student was threatening to stab another student with scissors and may have been experiencing a manic episode. Police said officers responded accordingly but changed their posture once they realized Evans was asleep in her room when they entered. In the lawsuit filed Monday, Evans accused the school and others of violating her right to due process and equal protection, negligence and gross negligence. Watch the full news conference below:Here is the full lawsuit filed by Evans:

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NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Six students who have been accused of filing a false police report that led to officers storming a Houston student’s dorm room at Stephen F. Austin State University last month have reached a settlement in the lawsuit against the school. The lawsuit accused the university of violating the rights of the six students by denying them due process. Police said officers responded accordingly but changed their posture once they realized Evans was asleep in her room when they entered. Evans, who is Black, said she believes the incident was orchestrated by her white roommates and motivated by her race. Investigators have said there is no evidence to support that the incident was motivated by Evans' race.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Six students involved in an incident where police stormed another student’s room have filed a lawsuit against Steven F. Austin University accusing the school of violating their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. Evans, who is Black, said she believes the incident was orchestrated by her white roommates and motivated by her race. However, SFA police Chief John Fields said there were multiple ladies involved in the incident and the “evidence doesn’t lead to any racism. “Even worse, SFA has acknowledged numerous falsehoods related to how the incident is being portrayed to and reported in the media, yet SFA continues to rush to punish these students for something they did not do,” the lawsuit reads. A temporary restraining order has been granted to the students, preventing the university from taking any further action and requiring the school to preserve any evidence concerning the incident.

SFA also claimed that they are awaiting permission from Evans' family to release body camera video that they said will show police acted “professional." According to Harris, the SFA officers' guns were not drawn or pointed, and that the room was dark. Harris said the university cannot release the video without the permission of Evans and her family. “(We) call on the Evans' family to join us by agreeing to release the bodycam video of the incident,” she said. However, Evans' attorney Randall Kallinen said SFA has not allowed Evans, the family or himself to view the video while simultaneously seeking to release the video for the public and media.

Evans' family called the incident a racist set-up based on lies made to police by white students. SFA police chief John Fields said there are 11 females involved: seven is white, three is Black and one is Hispanic. It’s more students doing stuff they shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “My heart goes out to the innocent young lady the victim, in this case, this case of false reporting,” said SFA President Scott Gordon. This is a very serious matter and those students need to be expelled,” SFA President Kallinen said.