Community Outcry Follows Murder Of UT-Austin Student

AUSTIN, TX -- Community response following the death of a University of Texas-Austin student last week has been swift -- from student demands for increased campus safety to the creation of a memorial fund for the young woman who was studying dance was killed.

At least one reaction wasn't so expected: The smattering of homeless people along the main artery fronting campus have been demonized by some.

And, in some ways, it's hard to blame those scapegoating. Police, after all, have pushed the narrative of "teen runaway kills student" pretty hard.

A petition is now circulating calling for an ouster of all homeless people in the vicinity, so far garnering more than 2,000 signatures.

Arguably the worst element to emerge from the tragedy is the inevitable politicization of the issue, most dramatically illustrated by a vocal group of gun rights advocates who argue the young ballet dancer’s life would’ve been spared had the campus allowed guns on campus. That scenario is set to occur come August with passage by the Texas Legislature of the so-called “open carry” law allowing licensed gun owners to tote their weapons on school grounds.

But that foregone conclusion wasn’t enough for gun rights advocates, who quickly inserted themselves into discussion of the young woman’s murder while pushing their cause.

“Relocate homeless from Guadalupe Street,” screams the headline of a Change.org petition started days ago by Tanner Golden, the reference to the so-called “main drag,” -- the main artery running along campus.

“Residents of Austin and especially those who live in west campus, including myself, are harassed on a daily basis, being assaulted both physically and verbally by violent homeless people on Guadalupe Street,” Golden contends in the text describing his petition. “While not every homeless person is seen as a threat, this petition is aimed to step up police protection in the area, increase public awareness of mental illness, and find a way to deal with the problem of violence caused by homeless people in the area.”

Golden also calls for people to stop feeding the needy. In a city where merchants pride themselves as being pet-friendly -- dogs are common sights at stores, bars and even restaurants abound here -- Golden suggests punitive measures for food truck operators feeding humans.

“Lastly, food trucks stop and feed the less fortunate in the 23rd Street art district area, providing incentives for more people to move into the area,” Golden asserts.

He then invokes the NIMBY concept -- Not In My Back Yard -- as basis for his argument. Perhaps if the homeless could be fed in another part of town, they wouldn’t congregate off the main drag, he theorizes.

“If the food was given out at a different location other than right next to the university, the safety of students in the area could be greatly increased.”

The petition may have been inspired by narrative pushed by Austin Police Department Chief Art Acevedo, who referenced the homeless status of the young man now charged in the killing at a press conference identifying Meechaiel Criner as the suspect.

While it’s true Criner was homeless, the status was a recent development for the teenager given his troubled past as as former ward of the state. What’s more, Criner was a recent arrival to the area from Killeen, not an established part of the homeless population around campus Golden condemns.

Further, Criner was taken to an emergency homeless shelter by the police themselves the day following the crime. They had gotten reports of someone burning items in a trash can the day after the killing (a desperate attempt at destroying evidence, it turned out) and firefighters later put two and two together, recognizing the suspect from subsequently released surveillance video.

Police were then dispatched to transport the teen to a LifeWorks shelter located in South Austin, not the area around campus at which he later found himself to commit the unspeakable act for which he’s now behind bars on $1 million bail.

But those nuanced details are lost in the din to rid the area of homeless people. The petition has garnered 2,107 signatures toward a goal of 2,500.

Parents of students attending UT-Austin have joined in the chorus, largely via emails sent to university officials and through a private Facebook page run by the university for parents, as the Texas Tribune recently reported.

“The situation on the Drag occasionally smacks of an open-air asylum,” one parent wrote on the UT Parents Association page, the Trib reported.

Amid the cacophonous calls for a homeless roundup, the spectre of registered sex offenders living in the vicinity of campus has been lost. According to one site, there are 155 such people living in the four area codes nearest to the university.

Another petition of sorts takes a less adversarial approach. The family of the slain student has created a memorial fund for their lost loved one as a living tribute to honor her memory.

“Haruka Juliana Tsunemine Weiser, our beloved daughter, sister and friend, was taken from us too soon,” family members write on the memorial page. “We will forever miss her; the pain of our tragic loss is unfathomable.”

In response to members of the Longhorn community seeking to make gifts to the young woman’s memory, the family is now accepting donations to her namesake memorial fund.

“At an appropriate time, the family will determine how to best use those gifts to create a fitting tribute to honor Haruka,” family members write.

At the other extreme of their sentiment is a post on a site dubbed “Ammoland Shooting Sports News” where gun rights advocates insinuate themselves into the ensuing discussion about the young woman’s death by pushing their cause of unfettered access to guns on campus.

The post employs dramatic prose in pushing its own cause extrapolated from the tragedy:

“Imagine that you’re a 22-year-old woman walking back to your car after studying late at the UT library,” members of the group posit. “As you reach for your car door, a man lunges from the shadows and grabs your other arm. Your adrenaline surges, and your mind goes to the concealed handgun tucked into your waistband. As the man twists your arm and tries to force you to the ground, your free hand grabs the gun.

“You draw it just as his free hand draws a knife from his pocket. You point the gun at your assailant, squeeze the trigger, and...CLICK. Per UT-Austin’s campus carry policy, your gun’s chamber is empty. Even if you had an extra second to chamber a round, you’d need both hands free to do so.”

The passage refers to the reluctance university officials have had in being forced to allow guns on campus. Conservative members of the Texas Legislature pushed for a law dubbed “campus carry” which will allow gun owners to carry their guns on school grounds come August.

The group has come under fire for linking the woman’s recent death to the issue of guns on campus. Newsweek magazine was among those decrying the tactic.

In response to the Newsweek lambasting, Students For Conealed Carry -- the group posting the dramatically worded message on Ammoland and other forums -- shot back at their critics.

“The same pseudo-journalist who repeated conspiracy theories about SCC's founding and funding, without noting that those theories originated with a national gun-control conglomerate, is back at it with an article that, beginning with the headline itself, is nothing but a straw man argument.”

Their response is crafted not with empathy for the family’s grief, but at their own interests -- with full aim at the author taking them to task.

“In his Newsweek article inaccurately titled 'Campus carry advocates suggest gun might have prevented University of Texas murder,' Max Kutner makes no attempt to craft anything but a hit piece as he purports to analyze SCC's official statement on the recent murder at the University of Texas at Austin,” the group’s members state in their response.

“For six days following the first news of this tragic crime, Students for Concealed Carry declined media requests for comment and refrained from issuing a press release on the matter,” Students for Concealed Carry members assert. “Only once the basic facts of the crime were known and the UT community had had an opportunity to grieve did SCC issue a public statement acknowledging that this senseless murder serves as a painful reminder that college campuses are not immune to violent crime.”

Like so many of the issues that have surfaced post-homicide, the central theme is lost: A tragedy that could’ve been averted had enhanced security safeguards -- measures UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves now vows to have installed -- had been in place on the tragic night.

>>> Image via Haruka Weiser Memorial Fund page