"Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said Friday that it is premature to conclude that race was the motive in a series of attacks against college students, though authorities have said three black suspects admitted they chose only white targets.

In the early stages of the investigation, and after interviews with suspected assailants, 'the issue of race did become an issue,' Longo said at a news conference outside City Hall. 'I want to be very sensitive both as a parent and as the chief of police ...I'm going to be very sensitive about attributing it to that.'

Authorities have charged nine minors, including a girl arrested Friday, and one 18-year-old with various crimes in the string of six attacks between September and late January. All of those arrested are black, and several are high school athletes, police have said.

Eight of the accused attend Charlottesville High School. Police would not say where the other suspects attend school.

Friday's news conference came after city officials met with the Rev. Alvin Edwards, a local black leader, and Edna-Jakki Miller, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for what Mayor Blake Caravati described as a 'very open and frank' discussion.

'Although we still have many problems to examine, we left that meeting committed to honest dialogue and action,' said Caravati, who is up for re-election to the City Council. 'We recognize that this won't be easy. There are barriers and issues of understanding that must be addressed. And they will be.'

City spokesman Maurice Jones said Edwards and Miller expressed concern at the meeting that none of the white youths present during the attacks has been arrested. Miller declined to comment on the morning discussion, and Edwards could not be reached for comment.

Longo said Friday that police had interviewed two white girls and some black individuals but that there was insufficient evidence to charge them. And City police Lt. J. W. Gibson said detectives had sought to arrest the primary aggressors first, then assess whether to charge others who may have been accessories. Gibson said for the first time Friday that the assailants, who 1eft one University of Virginia student with a broken cheekbone and another with a concussion, decided collectively to hurt people for a thrill. The attackers, he added, chose to go after 'someone who looks different than you.'

Gibson also said that the focus on race has overshadowed the senselessness of the crimes.

'How did we ever get into a situation where 10 of our teen-agers would just jump on and beat people?' Gibson said. 'These kids, most of them, have some good parents that were obviously as shocked as we were. I didn't see hate in these kids. Most of these kids realized they did something very, very stupid.'

But it is the suspects' admission of race-based violence that has stirred emotion locally and beyond. Earlier this week, the organization led by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke demanded that city authorities prosecute the black youths for hate crimes. That decision is up to Charlottesville's top prosecutor, Dave Chapman, who said he is still weighing evidence on the matter. Miller, with the local NAACP, said she wants to make sure the teen suspects get adequate legal representation and fair treatment.

'It's a very sad event,' she said." (Reed Williams, The Daily Progress, February 9, 2002)