Lincoln, Nebraska police have accused
Charlie Rogers of faking her own anti-gay attack.
Fire fighters responded to a Lincoln
house fire on an early Sunday morning last month after Rogers called
for help from a neighbor's house. Three masked men allegedly forced
themselves into Rogers' home, attacked her, carved homophobic slurs
into her body and set her house on fire.
Neighbor Linda Rappi told CNN that
Rogers arrived at her home “naked, her hands were tied with zip
ties. All I could see was a cut across her forehead and blood
running down.”
On Tuesday, police said Rogers had
faked the attack to spark change.
Police Chief Jim Peschong noted a
Facebook posting Rogers wrote four day before she called for help.
“So maybe I am too idealistic, but I
believe way deep inside me that we can make things better for
everyone. I will be a catalyst. I will do what it takes. I will.
Watch me,” wrote Rogers, a former University of Nebraska women's
basketball star.
Peschong made the allegations during a
press conference held on the same day Rogers pleaded not guilty to
making a false police report. He added that evidence collected at
the crime scene does not support Rogers' account of what happened.
Investigators said Rogers, 33, admitted
to purchasing a box cutter and zip ties 5 days before the alleged
incident. They also said they have evidence she deleted numerous
text messages from the date in question.
Rogers reported the attack as Lincoln
residents battle over a gay protections law. City leaders approved
the ordinance in May but opponents mounted a successful petition
drive that requires the council to either let it die or put the
ordinance up to a popular vote.
(Source: The
Associated Press.)