The Volokh Conspiracy

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Crime

Fake hate crime report in St. Louis?

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A Bosnian woman, Seherzada Dzanic, reported on Dec. 5 that three black men attacked her because she was a Bosnian—but surveillance video seems to suggest that there was no attack at all, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This was noted in part because a Bosnian man was killed with a hammer five days before; two black teens and a Hispanic teen have been arrested for that.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes,

"You're a (expletive) liar. You're Bosnian. I should just kill you now," [Dzanic] claimed they told her, according to an account at the time by St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson….

City police detectives found the video that disputed Dzanic's story, according to court documents. In the pictures, she is seen driving along the street in the opposite direction that she told police, then doing a U-turn, stopping, getting out and lying on the street until the passing motorist finds her, according to a police source.

According to court documents, Dzanic said she made up the story because she was suffering from "emotional issues." …