CSU Football Player Held at Gunpoint Asking That Prosecutors be Forced to File Hate Crime Charges

In a rare legal maneuver, attorneys for a Colorado State University football player held at gunpoint by a Loveland resident are asking a judge to force prosecutors to file hate crime charges in the case.

The Loveland man, Scott Gudmundsen, faces charges of felony menacing, impersonating a police officer, prohibited use of a firearm and false imprisonment. He is accused of holding the CSU student, Barry Wesley, and another man at gunpoint while the duo were canvassing a neighborhood for a roofing company. Gudmundsen knelt on Wesley’s neck and pushed the gun into the student’s back, according to Gudmundsen’s arrest affidavit.

The motion filed Wednesday argues that the Eighth Judicial District Attorney’s Office should file a bias-motivated crime charge against Gudmundsen, who is white, because of comments he made and his connections to a group called Soldiers of Valhalla Shooting Club. The attorneys also point out that Gudmundsen physically attacked the Black student but not the other roofing company employee, who is white.

“The District Attorney’s refusal to acknowledge and prosecute Gudmundsen’s racial animus is unconscionable,” attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai of law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai wrote in the motion.