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03/03 Update: The Marquette Tribune has a brief story up on the kidnapping, calling it now an “armed robbery” based on the DPS-weekend press release.

Click here for the relevant Wisconsin State Statutes.

940.31 Kidnapping. (1) Whoever does any of the following
is guilty of a Class C felony:
(a) By force or threat of imminent force carries another from one place to another without his or her consent and with intent to cause him or her to be secretly confined or imprisoned or to be carried out of this state or to be held to service against his or her will; or

Memo to Marquette bureaucrats: You can’t wish away the problem of safety on campus by redefining crime.

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Marquette University released the following “Public Safety Alert” early yesterday, Saturday morning:

Two separate robberies were reported to the Milwaukee Police Department shortly after midnight on Saturday, March 1. The first robbery occurred within the 2100 block of West Kilbourn Ave at approximately midnight on Saturday, March 1. The second robbery occurred within the 700 block of North 18th Street at approximately 12:15 a.m. on Saturday, March 1. In both incidents, which are believed to be related, two male suspects approached the victims, all Marquette students; one suspect displayed a weapon and demanded personal property. During the second incident, the victims were forced to withdraw cash from ATM machines. After the second incident, the suspects fled in a silver minivan. The Milwaukee Police Department was contacted and responded to both incidents. MPD notified the Department of Public Safety of both incidents early this morning.

The information about “ATM machines” raises several questions: first, how many ATMs are near O’Donnell Hall, basically the site of the alleged “robbery” and second, if the students robbed in front of O’Donnell were transported elsewhere, i.e. to “ATMs,” what occurred between their removal from the O’Donnell area and their “robbery” involving an ATM machine?

GOP3 has exclusively come upon unreported information regarding these events. Apparently, the two students involved, either Marquette University freshman or sophomores (residents of a dorm that houses both) were kidnapped in the block in question, the “700 block of North 18th Street” and transported to the North Side of Milwaukee in the “silver minivan” in question.

The kidnapping suspects transported the two male students to the North Side and apparently separated the two at some point during the kidnapping. Either one or both were forced to withdraw money from an ATM machine, though when one of the two victim’s ATM cards either did not work or the student failed to properly operate it, the victim was roughed up by the suspects.

At some point, the student who was beaten by the kidnapping suspects was able to flee the suspects and apparently ended up at a local hospital. He’s now off campus and home with his parents.

The second victim was taken by the suspects at some point to a house on the North Side of Milwaukee. He was dropped off in the back yard of a home on the North Side and ordered not to move from the location were the suspects dropped him off lest the other individual be killed if he were to escape. Apparently after four or so hours of standing alone in the cold outside of this particular house on the North Side, the victim fled and contacted the police.

Altogether, this crime reminds us of a previous incident involving a kidnapping of two Marquette University students that we were familiar with but have not reported on out of deference to the involved victim in the Summer of 2006.

Female Kidnappings in Summer of 2006

In the summer of 2006, GOP3 learned of a kidnapping involving a personal female friend (and friend of hers) in the same class, the to-be graduating class of 2007

Our friend and her friend, both incoming seniors of Marquette University, were subject to a kidnapping the end of May, 2006.

During the early evening, our friend went to the ATM in the parking structure on 16th street. After leaving the ATM, a friend in a car noticed her outside, and asked if she wanted a ride to her apartment. Since her apartment was in the building above businesses on Wells nearby, she asked why, and her friend responded that they would have the opportunity to chat for a few minutes.

After turning left on the corner at 16th and Wells, they proceeded to park, likely next to George Webb’s restaurant, so our friend could exit the vehicle. While her companion was still in the driver’s seat, a man opened one of the doors, pointed a gun at the driver, and ordered her to first start driving.

He demanded that they hand over their purses, and also take him to the nearest ATM machine to get him more money. When he demanded that the girls take him to an ATM, the driver told him that she did not have it with her. The man insisted that he wasn’t a bad guy, because he could rape or murder the pair but was not doing so.

They proceeded to drive for a period of time, and eventually ended up on the North Side of Milwaukee. Very frightened, the girls did not know where they had driven to or how they got there. The entire time that the man forced the girls to drive around, he pointed his gun at the driver. Eventually, he became frustrated because the driver either would not or could not take them to an ATM, and left their vehicle after they were far, far from campus.

The suspect told the girls that he belonged to a local gang, of which MPD officers later told the girls they thought most of its members had been arrested or in jail. It’s possible that the individual was trying to lay blame on it as a rival gang.

Our friend grew up in a very urban setting, where she witnessed a great deal of drug crime. As incoming seniors, our friend and her companion had three years experience as Milwaukee residents. We also knew our friend to be an eminently mature young woman. Given this history and her demeanor, our friend was able to remain relatively stable during the ordeal.

Unfortunately, in more kidnappings such as this the University may not be so perversely fortunate. Our freshman year a freshman female was nearly sexually assaulted in the first floor female bathroom of Raynor Library the Saturday before finals by a homeless person. While in Washington, DC, the Spring of 2005, we heard of a beating of a freshman female by a newly released convict in front of McCormick Hall, which elicited little response from the University.

Marquette Administrators cannot continue to ignore the level of violence at Marquette as a product of our urban setting. Students must be fully aware of the dangers posed to them as they apply to Marquette, and parents have a right to know how safe their children are at the colleges they sent them off to. In the interests of transparency and honesty, the Administration must be frank and open about these types of incidents.

Dean Jim McMahon attempt at cover-up

It wouldn’t be a Marquette scandal without an attempt to cover-up the incident, would it?

Unfortunately, our female friend was also a student-employee of Marquette University, working in the Office of Residence Life.

While informing a fellow friend of the ORL one day about the incident, Jim McMahon, the Dean of the Office of Residence Life, overheard the friend and another employee discussing the kidnapping (just days after its occurrence) and ordered her not to talk about it while at work because he did “not want prospective students to hear about it” who might come through the ORL.

God forbid prospective students hear about an on-campus kidnapping, right McMahon?

Fortunately the students involved were mature seniors. What if they had been rural-born freshman unfamiliar with the City of Milwaukee?

We will have updates as more information becomes available.

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