Last month, Mari Poindexter, open lesbian professor at Central Michigan University, was sentenced after pleading guilty to falsely reporting a misdemeanor, telling law enforcement that she was punched in the face and spat on because of her sexual orientation outside of a Toby Keith country concert. It turns out that Poindexter lied. She confessed that she punched herself in the face and made up the assault to push for social justice: “Poindexter made up the story and cold-cocked herself in her own right eye ‘because she wanted to raise awareness about the social hardships of people in the LGBTQ+ community,’” reports the Daily Caller.
Poindexter, who publicly came out as gay three years ago, claimed that the assault happened on August 19 at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. She immediately exploited the false narrative for media attention and her social justice crusade. The professor posted a picture of her black eye along with a message about the fake assault. The page has since been deleted.
Following the self-pity-indulgent Facebook post, publicly-funded Central Michigan University officials quickly came to her defense via the school’s Facebook page: “We’re proud of you, Mari, for taking a stand,” said the post. “CMU stands with you.”
The Morning Sun, among other publications, reported that Poindexter, by her own account, was attacked because of her sexual orientation, building the false narrative of extreme homophobic activity at a country concert:
Mari Poindexter, a 23-year-old fixed-term faculty member at Central Michigan University, is likely currently sporting traditionally men’s-style clothing; athletic shoes, jeans and a T-shirt, along with a short hair cut.
She’s also sporting a black eye, a wound she received from a man she said punched her and spit on her while spewing bigoted slurs regarding her sexual identity in a parking lot of a Mt. Pleasant bar last week.
Poindexter said there weren’t witnesses to the attack and while that means police may never find her attacker, she wants to use her experience to raise awareness that hate happens in all communities.
According to reports via court papers, Poindexter told police that a “man began hurling a rich tapestry of obscene slurs” at her. She continued with the fallacy, claiming that later that night “the same man ambushed her in the parking lot of The Cabin — a local bar. The man thumped Poindexter in the eye, she said, and spat on her.”
Police began to press on Poindexter’s story, attempting to find the fictitious man who allegedly carried out a nasty hate crime on the young lady. Once the police asked the professor to try to identify the man, telling her that they had access to video footage of the parking lot where the alleged incident went down, Poindexter become “anxious” and said she no longer wanted to find her mythical assailant.
Then things completely fell apart. The Daily Caller notes that “[s]ix days after the attack, on Aug. 25, a woman called police saying that Poindexter was threatening to kill herself with an overdose of pills, according to Central Michigan Life, the CMU campus newspaper.”
Poindexter was on the phone with the woman who called police. Later in the call, police say, Poindexter admitted to concocting the story about getting punched and spat on.
Poindexter made up the story and cold-cocked herself in her own right eye “because she wanted to raise awareness about the social hardships of people in the LGBTQ+ community,” according to court documents.
The Central Michigan University LGBTQ service office issued a statement concerning the false incident with Poindexter: “While facing mental health challenges does not absolve Mari of accountability, it helps us understand why our offering compassion rather than judgement and isolation is so important.”
Poindexter reportedly received psychological help following the suicide attempt.
The gay professor who concocted this hate crime from her imagination is currently on leave from the university, charged with six months probation and a $225 fine. Poindexter maintains that there were homophobic slurs directed her way at the concert, but admits that all else was a lie.