A high profile Ohio case is lighting up social media sites. A jury convicted two Steubenville football players earlier this week of raping a drunk 16-year-old girl after an alcohol-fueled party.
"I do go to a lot of college parties, and a lot of girls are drunk," says UT student Letticia Arnold, who calls the entire incident unfortunate. "Some of them aren't aware of their surroundings, but that's never an excuse to take advantage of another girl."
Supporters of the players and victim are taking their opinions online. Jimmy Momenee, a recent UT grad and former student radio show host, is catching fire for one tweet in particular.
On Saturday he wrote, "If you're drunk/slutty at a party and embarrassed later, just say you got raped" in response to the high profile trial. He's since stepped down from his radio show and apologized for his remarks, but that hasn't stopped the response from pouring in.
("I think if you're going to say something like that, keep it to yourself or tell your friend secretly, don't put it out there like that," says Asha Townsend a part-time college and high school student.
"It was bad what he said but with social media, you can't take stuff too seriously," says Kevin Weirach, another UT student. "It is what it is."
The line between online comments and real world consequences isn't clearly defined. Police arrested two girls for Facebook and Twitter death threats they made to the rape victim the same day the players were convicted. UT students say freedom of speech is important, but warn words could come back to haunt you if you're not careful.
"You should just try to monitor what you say," says Arnold.
"If they say something, it's their opinion. I don't think they should be persecuted for it but if it hurts somebody then of course somebody has the right to go after them," Weirach comments.
A spokesperson for the University of Toledo sent this statement out concerning the incident:
"The recent remarks of one of UT's alums, Jimmy Momenee, lamenting the guilty verdict of two Steubenville teens convicted of rape were revolting and directly contradict the values of The University of Toledo. The only victim in this case is the young woman assaulted. On his Twitter page, Mr. Momenee has expressed regret and apologized for the comments and rightly so.
"Mr. Momenee is one of several UT alumni, staff and students who host radio shows on UT's student-run radio station, WXUT. Mr. Momenee has voluntarily suspended his radio show and its return will be considered at a later date.
"No matter if it is the original offensive Twitter post blaming the rape victim, the avalanche of justified outrage or the occasional response that directed rape and death threats toward the friends and family of Mr. Momenee for his thoughtless words, Mr. Momenee is learning a difficult lesson about the power of social media and the consequences that come with the words we choose."
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