Attorney says 'accountability clock' is ticking for UI leadership

The attorney for a family whose son was sucker-punched unconscious in an incident allegedly involving University of Idaho football players called for "accountability" from the university Wednesday.

Moscow-based attorney Tim Gresback spoke on behalf of UI student Timmy Reed, who was attacked outside of his residence during a Feb. 10 incident involving 40-50 people, some of whom were allegedly Vandal football players.

Moscow police responded to the scene just before 11 p.m. Feb. 10 because of a “large fight” with multiple people, according to a dispatch report.

Moscow Police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger said Wednesday the investigation into the incident isn’t finished because police are waiting for search warrants to be completed. Dahlinger said when the investigation is done, the police will forward it to the Latah County Prosecutor's Office to determine if charges should be filed.

The reason behind the large crowd’s actions and arrival is still unclear. But Gresback provided some speculations Wednesday during an online conference call with reporters.

The attorney mentioned racial insults as a potential cause for the incident. But Gresback disputed that by saying, “This is an unfair attempt to change the narrative.”

The attorney said the Reed family, which lives in Weiser, “does not talk that way.”

Gresback explained that the “inaccurate narrative shift” of racial insults “does not address why this large and intimating mob showed up on Timmy’s doorstep uninvited.”

“The allegations that racial slurs were thrown after the crowds' arrival don’t explain the epithets or their arrival in the first place,” he said.  “This group arrived in a concerted fashion looking for trouble, and by golly, they got it.”

Gresback also mentioned the potential of “some twisted notion of revenge,” because a week earlier at a different location, a member of Timmy’s fraternity (Beta Theta Phi) allegedly “had a tussle with a football player.”

Reed did not participate in that fight, according to Gresback, and he “had nothing to do with any precipitating event; Timmy is an innocent victim.”

According to Gresback’s statement, Reed and his two housemates planned a social event at their triplex near the Beta Theta Phi fraternity house on the day of the incident. The gathering had barely started before “an estimated 40 or more people arrived unannounced at 10:30 p.m.”

“The crowd appeared to be University of Idaho students, some of whom wore masks,” Gresback said. “And some of them carried PVC pipes. It is believed that many in the group were University of Idaho football players.”

When the large crowd approached Reed’s residence, he asked the group to leave, according to Gresback. Shortly after this interaction, Reed was struck. He fell to the ground, hit his head on the asphalt, and was knocked unconscious. He received medical attention at Quick Care after suffering a concussion, a fractured nose and a black eye.

The event has been difficult for Reed to live with. Gresback mentioned that the civil engineering student has become “so addled with fear that he slept with a knife under his pillow.”

Timmy’s parents, Nick and Melissa Reed, have “raised thousands and thousands of dollars to provide scholarships for Idaho Vandal football players over the years.”

Nick and Melissa Reed were heavily involved in organizing the Vandal Summerfest fundraiser event for the West Treasure Valley chapter of the Vandal Scholarship Fund. The organization voted 17-1 on April 2 to cancel this year’s fundraiser.

The chapter’s president, Marg Chipman, cited the incident as the “direct cause” of the cancellation in an email sent to the Lewiston Tribune, eliminating an estimated $35,000 in donations.

Reed has been fully cooperative with the university and its investigation, according to Gresback, and has “voluntarily appeared for a police interview.”

The Reed family’s biggest fear is that the incident will be “swept under the rug” by UI.

“I feel like I can almost hear the broom," Gresback said. “The end of the semester is nearly upon us. … If there is a strategy to run out the accountability clock, it could very well be working.”

The attorney later said the alleged “white football player identified as the perpetrator should not be the sole party held to account. In a way, he too is a victim of a toxic, out-of-control, cavalier Vandal football culture that tolerates violence but lacks leadership.”

Gresback didn’t field any questions during his 10-minute speech and instead urged people to “direct them to the university and the Moscow Police Department.”

He finished his monologue by praising University of Idaho President Scott Green’s track record of being “bold, decisive and fearless.” But he claims the “accountability clock” is almost up for Green and UI.

“The change must come from the top,” Gresback said. “We respectfully demand the university respond subsequently by May 3 so students can enter finals week knowing that President Green cares about their safety.”

The University of Idaho's chief executive director of communications, Jodi Walker, said in an email, "The University is aware of an off-campus, after-hours incident at a private residence on Feb 10 that was reportedly violent in nature. ... This would fall into a criminal realm and the jurisdiction of the Moscow Police Department. Students believed to have been involved have been contacted and asked to participate in a university investigation related to potential violations of the Student Code of Conduct or any other police violations."

"The university cannot force students to participate, but encourages anyone with information to contact the Office of Civil Rights and Investigations," Walker's email said.

Pixley may be contacted at (208) 848-2290, tpixley@lmtribune.com or on Twitter @TreebTalks