"There is a growing concern in our community about the recent assaults on University ofVirginia students and the subsequent arrests of a number of teen-agers in connection with those assaults. And we have come together today to talk a bit about what has happened, where we are in the investigation and what needs to be done in the future to identify the reasons behind the attacks in order to ensure this does not happen again.

First, our sympathies go out to the victims of these disturbing assaults and their families. Not many of us have felt the pain of violation that these young people have endured, and we can only offer our hope that as their physical wounds heal, so will their emotional scars.

We also reach out to the families of those charged with the crimes. To find out that your child, or brother, or sister has been involved with this type of activity is extremely disappointing and heart wrenching, especially when you consider the bright futures within the grasp of many of these youngsters involved.

Let's begin with what has happened. Beginning in September there were a series of assaults committed against UVa students in different areas near the University. Since last Friday, the Police Department has arrested nine juveniles and one adult in connection to those assaults, and will have interviewed at least 20 people who may have been involved with the attacks on some level. We need to emphasize here that the ten people arrested thus far were most readily identifiable as being directly involved with the assaults. Meaning ---those who actually participated in the encounters.

The rest of those who have been questioned, both black and white, have not been arrested because there is little evidence at this point, that they were physically involved with the aggressive behavior. But we have to stress here, the investigation is not over and there may be more arrests to come.

There is another matter that has come to the forefront in this discussion. ..and that's the issue of whether these were or were not racially motivated assaults. That has yet to be determined by the Commonwealth's Attorney and we are confident that he will proceed with this investigation in a very professional, thorough and fair manner. And he will decide upon any additional charges based on the facts and evidence of the case.

The Vice-Mayor and I had a very open and frank discussion this morning with City staffers and several members of the community including Reverend Alvin Edwards and NAACP President Edna-Jakki Miller, about these incidents and why they occurred.

And although we still have many problems to examine, we left that meeting committed to honest dialogue and action. We recognize that this won't be easy. There are barriers and issues of understanding that must be addressed. And they will be.

This is our opportunity as a community to bridge this divide, caused by a long history of distrust. If we work towards that goal we will lessen the odds that these types of incidents will ever transpire in the City of Charlottesville again." (Blake Caravati, February 8, 2002)