WASHINGTON — A Georgetown University student wants the university to take action after they say they were a victim of a hate crime on campus.
Senior Lahannah Giles said back in April, they were sitting outside the student center when a white male student yelled racial slurs and violent threats from a dorm room window.
"This has been a really traumatic event and I'm still in therapy as a result of it," Giles said. "I have to get off campus. I don't feel safe. This is a really uncomfortable environment for me and it's just completely altered my senior year."
Giles feels like the school is not taking the case seriously.
"Georgetown is trying to erase what happened to me," they said.
After waiting months for answers, they learned the police department lost surveillance footage related to the investigation. A spokesperson with Georgetown told WUSA9 still photos of potential suspects were taken from surveillance video based on who entered the residence hall around the time of the incident.
Georgetown said investigators later discovered the video server failed and all footage of students entering and exiting the building had been lost.
Now Giles want some kind of action to be taken by the university.
"I would really like them to expel the student who committed the racist hate crime against me. He not only intimidated me and made me feel unsafe, but I feel that he's a threat to the entire community," they said.
Georgetown said another delay was due to the initial report of the incident was filed as a bias-related incident instead of a hate crime. It did not get upgraded until Dec. 6, one day after students held a sit-in protest.
A university spokesperson would not confirm whether the person who yelled at Giles was a student, but did offer a statement.
"The abhorrent behavior involved in this incident is a clear violation of Georgetown's code of student conduct," the statement reads.
A likely punishment would be suspension of dismissal. A decision on a possible punishment is expected Friday.