The College Fix

Prosecutor cites ‘inconsistencies’ in accuser’s story

Racial slur charges have been dropped against the leader of Yale University’s conservative Buckley Institute, following further investigation. Now, the leader of the group is sharing her side of the story.

Buckley Institute Executive Director Lauren Noble faced three charges of “breach of peace,” following several allegations against her by a parking attendant in New Haven, Connecticut named Gerno Allen.

However, she (pictured) defeated the charges, according to the Connecticut Post.

“The reasons we cannot prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt are there is insufficient evidence to support — support the complaining witness claim,” Jacqueline Fitzgerald told the court in March. “[T]here are inconsistencies in the complaining witness’ statements; there are credibility issues; there are — there exists video evidence clearly contradicting the complaining witness’ statements.”

She also said following a “thorough investigation, the State has concluded that these allegations cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“The judge, Frank A. Iannotti, dismissed the case on a motion brought by Noble’s attorney, Audrey Felsen, after the prosecution raised no objection,” the CT Post reported.

Allen, the complainant, “accused Noble of making racist remarks directed at him on three occasions in July 2023, while he was working as an attendant at a paid parking lot on Wall Street in New Haven.”

Noble called the long process “inexcusable.”

“The allegations were never true,” Noble told the Yale Daily News. “Video evidence that existed from day one fully exonerated me, just as I said from the very beginning. The fact that it took nearly a year and exorbitant legal fees to get to this outcome is inexcusable.”

She shared her story in the New York Post recently, detailing everything she went through.

“It took almost a year, tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees and endless stress before the nightmare ended on March 27, when the prosecutor finally dropped all charges,” Noble wrote on May 13.

She accused media outlets of trumpeting the case because of bias toward conservatives.

She wrote:

The interest in my case seemed to have more to do with what the Buckley Institute represents than anything I ever did, or was accused of doing.

Headlines in local newspapers made much of both Buckley and conservatism generally, as left-leaning media outlets welcomed the opportunity to advance the dishonest narrative that everyone on the right is racist.

They made the malicious assumption that those who defend free speech do so to say offensive things.

The case was a farce from the start: There were no threats, no violence — just a made-up accusation, rubber-stamped by a system that didn’t bother to check basic facts before putting someone’s life through a meat grinder.

Noble said there is a real “systemic” problem with “cowardice.”

“It’s a criminal-justice system that rushes to judgment, punishes the innocent and works on a sluggish timeline to correct its own mistakes, regardless of the cost to the accused.”

MORE: Harvard offers ’empowering black leaders’ event

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Lauren Noble speaks at a Buckley Institute event; Buckley Institute/YouTube

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