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Kennesaw Police working to determine if assault at apartment complex was 'racially motivated'

By and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  January 26, 2023 11:38pm EST
Kennesaw
FOX 5 Atlanta

KSU student beaten in suspected racially motivated attack

A Kennesaw State University student says two men brutally beat him outside his own apartment. He believes the attack was racially motivated.

KENNESAW, Ga. - Police in Kennesaw are searching for people accused of using racial slurs while attacking a man outside his car at an apartment complex.

Kennesaw police said the attack happened at around midnight on Sunday at the West 22 apartment complex on Cherokee Street. It's about two miles north of the Kennesaw State University campus.

At the scene, police talked to a man bleeding from his nose. He told police he was getting out of his car when two white men beat him to the ground and kicked him in the face while calling him the N-word, according to a police report.

Jalique Rosemond had to go to the hospital for his injuries.

"I want people to understand this was very traumatic for me", said Rosemond. 

"They just pounced on him, hitting him, abusing him. They did kick him in the nose and his nose was fractured. They pulled out his dreadlocks," said Rosemond's roommate Emmanuel Osakwe.

Roswemond said he does not know the men who attacked him. He says they were white, and he believes they targeted him because he is black. 

"They were yelling racial slurs at my friend," said Osakwe. 

"With the current video evidence that we have and the statements from the victim, this ultimately could be racially motivated, but we're going to investigate all aspects of the case," said Kennesaw Police Officer David Buchanan.

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Rosemond told police one of the suspects was wearing a thick sweater with stripes and had blonde hair. The other suspect was about 5-foot-8 with blonde hair and wore a gray sweatshirt, according to a police report.

Police said detectives talked to numerous witnesses that night. Now, they are trying to find some people who were in a Jeep Wrangler that was parked nearby and get their account of what happened. 

"Trying to figure out who was in that Jeep and what they saw and how they're related to this case," said Officer Buchanan. 

During all the chaos that night, Rosemond's roommate, Emmanuel Osakwe, says he was arrested on charges of obstruction and disorderly conduct. 

"We just want justice. If the people who called get arrested and those who committed the crime get away, justice wasn't served," said Osakwe.

Police ask anyone with information to report it to investigators by calling 770-429-4533 or emailing KPD_TIPS@kennesaw-ga.gov.