Report: Iowa band suffered verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from Iowa State fans
Some members of the Iowa marching band have stepped forward to share their stories of the various forms of abuse they endured during the recent trip to Iowa State.
The story began earlier this week with a report that Iowa was investigating allegations of “inappropriate actions” towards the Hawkeye band during and directly after the contest with Iowa State. That story seemed to be put to bed rather quickly with a statement from Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard. Pollard indicated the band had a police escort the entire day, and the escorts did not see anything or have anything reported to them from the game.
Well, a story released in The Gazette on Friday recounts the stories of multiple band members listing various instances of verbal, physical, and yes, even sexual abuse. According to Vanessa Miller with The Gazette, one member of the band was even sent to the hospital:
Members of the Hawkeye Marching Band say they were subject to racial slurs, verbal and physical sexual harassment and assault, shoves that sent one woman to the hospital and thrown objects leaving lasting bruises during last weekend’s Cy-Hawk football rivalry in Ames.
One Iowa student, Paige Pearson, claimed it was Iowa State fans and no one from the Iowa State band was involved. She also included that a female member of the band sustained fractured ribs:
Attacks included verbal and physical sexual abuse during the game, which was delayed for hours by bad weather in the first half, Pearson said. One female member of the band suffered fractured ribs and went to the hospital, she said.
Another member, Corey Knopp, also echoed the claims of sexual abuse:
“A girl’s ribs are broken because of fan interaction,” he said. “A member of the band was cornered by a number of males and was assaulted…
“We expect to be booed and the usual rivalry game antics,” he said. “But never physically and sexually assaulted.”
The article also stated that Iowa has reopened an inquiry into what exactly happened last weekend.
For the full report on the various claims and stories from the trip to Iowa State, be sure to check out Vanessa Miller’s story in The Gazette:
Hawkeye band members recount verbal, physical, and sexual abuse from ISU fans – Band members say adult fans chucked beer cans and sprayed their feet as they marched. https://t.co/LZvHUqv2xT via @gazettedotcom
— Vanessa Miller (@VanessaMiller12) September 20, 2019