Details behind student arrest emerges

The News-Times did a write-up regarding a student at Western who was charged with charged with second-degree breach of peace last week.

WestConn police arrested a 21-year-old student after a professor reported that someone was stating racial obscenities in a classroom building on campus Thursday afternoon.

Western Connecticut State University police said they were dispatched to the second floor of Higgins Hall in response to the complaint by a WestConn professor, who reported a person was walking up and down the halls saying racial obscenities.

Police said they found the student on the second floor in the annex portion of the building.

After speaking with the student and getting a written statement from the complainant, police took the student into custody at WestConn's police headquarters.

Vinay Madabusi, 21, of Naugatuck, who lives on campus, was arrested at 4:05 p.m. and charged with second-degree breach of peace, a misdemeanor, police said.

Today, the Fairfield Weekly followed up on the News-Times piece by outlining what the student was actually saying in the hallway.

Racial slurs are bad — most people agree — but are they illegal? Last time we checked, even antisocial speech is protected by the First Amendment.

So we were a tad surprised to hear about the arrest of WestConn student Vinay Madabusi last week. Madabusi, 21, was charged with second-degree breach of peace for walking down the campus’ Higgins Hall and “saying” “racial obscenities,” according to campus police.

There was no indication Madabusi was shouting or confronting someone else; he was only spouting “racial obscenities,” apparently to himself.

For clarification, we turned to WestConn Chief of Police Neil McLaughlin.

McLaughlin says Madabusi was at least being loud enough to attract the attention of a professors in a classroom, “who came out and heard this guy talking and he was using racial obscenities” and then reported him to police.

When confronted by officers, Madabusi “said he was reciting a Tupac song,” adds McLaughlin. (The late rapper cut such songs as “Crooked Ass Nigga,” “Young Niggaz” and “Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.”)

McLaughlin didn’t explain if it was the volume or content of this monologue that caused the arrest, but did say he’s confident Madabusi was causing a disruption.