Student Arrested for Sickening Campaign Against Roommate

She licked utensils, smeared bodily fluids on backpack
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 2, 2017 1:48 AM CDT
Student Arrested for Sickening Campaign Against Roommate
This booking photo released Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017, by the West Hartford Police Department shows former University of Hartford student Brianna Brochu, charged with smearing bodily fluids on her roommate's belongings in West Hartford, Conn.   (West Hartford Police Department via AP)

A University of Hartford student has been expelled and is facing a hate crime charge after allegedly waging a disgusting campaign to force the black roommate she nicknamed "Jamaican Barbie" to move—and bragging about it online. "After one and a half months spitting in her coconut oil, putting moldy clam dip in her lotions, rubbing used tampons on her backpack, putting her toothbrush places where the sun doesn't shine, and so much more, I can finally say goodbye to Jamaican Barbie," Brianna Brochu said in one Instagram post. Brochu was arrested Saturday and admitted licking utensils and smearing bodily fluids on the backpack of Chennel Rowe, though the 18-year-old said she invented other claims to "appear funny," the Hartford Courant reports.

Police say they will be seeking a charge of intimidation based on bigotry or bias in addition to a mischief charge already filed, the New York Times reports. The university, which had granted Brochu a $20,000-a-year scholarship, says her behavior was "reprehensible" and she will not be returning. Brochu told police she lashed out because of a "hostile environment" caused by Rowe's "rude behavior." In a video posted on Facebook Monday, Rowe said she requested a room change after being ignored and ostracized by Brochu. Rowe, who blamed health problems early in the school year on the contamination of her belongings, said Brochu made the Instagram post as she was moving out on Oct. 17. She also accused the school of telling her to keep quiet and suggested things would have been different if she was white and Brochu black. (The demands of this college roommate went viral.)

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