The Anscombe Affair, Part II: The Boy Who Cried Concussion
The jig is up. Francisco Nava (P’ 08), the student who allegedly received a series of emailed threats before becoming the victim of a violent assault, has come clean — he faked it, the bizarrely personal threats (”YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE WRONG CAUSE”), the prefab narrative of conservative martyrdom, the perfectly-timed assault, everthing.
Let me be honest, EVERYONE SAW THIS COMING. Although it would be pointless now to post a list of problems with Nava’s account, it was a long list and it was a pretty good list. Stuff like: why did the threats begin merely after Nava spoke up in class and precept? Was he being stalked by a classmate? When the first round of threatening emails was intercepted by the Princeton spam filter, how did the stalker figure this out, as he must have in order to send a second round?
Why is the low-level officer who wrote a witless op/ed on condoms the target and not, you know, the outspoken Rhodes Scholar and former President of the Anscombe Society? How would the assailant have a car immediately ready to follow Nava to any destination? But the most damning piece of evidence was this: as a student at Groton, Nava wrote “Die Faggots!” on a wall and cried wolf. I mean, c’mon…
From the Prince:
Francisco Nava ‘09 has admitted to fabricating an alleged assault on him that he said occurred Friday evening and also to sending threatening emails to himself, other members of the Anscombe Society and prominent conservative politics professor Robert George, Princeton Township Police said today.
“He fabricated the story,” Det. Sgt. Ernie Silagyi said.
Go crazy right now.
Here is an embarassment of links from the Prince, the New York Sun, the Tory blog, and the First Things blog.
(FOR TOMORROW: Did Nava inflict his wounds himself or pay someone to inflict them? Are there other conspirators?)
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December 17th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
obviously this was a hoax. people beat up a kid for discussing abstinence as an ra? give me a break. no one cares. i was an ra at columbia, and i remember asking my boss if we had to dispense condoms, and she was like, no you don’t have to. and another ra asked if he could pass out abstinence pamphlets instead, and she’s like, yea, that’s fine. people might look at this kid like he has 8 eyes, but beat him up, no way.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
This is the kind of shit that people do when they’re gay but never have the balls to come out. It messes you up.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
what an idiot. he’ll never get hired.
also, whatever weird thing he was trying to say, I don’t like it.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
oh, man, D08, preprofessional any? I love the reflexive ‘he’ll never get hired.’ the scene: obviously severely disturbed student BEATS HIMSELF UP for attention and the response from the proto-i-bankers in the corner is ‘now THAT will look really bad on his google search!’
December 17th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
I’m still curious–how did he manage to beat himself up? At this point, he undoubtedly sent the emails, but can you really be so dedicated as to knock yourself out?
December 17th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Don’t suppose the author of this article (http://dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/12/14/opinion/19732.shtml)
will write a follow-up piece?
December 17th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
oh, man, D08, preprofessional any? I love the reflexive ‘he’ll never get hired.’ the scene: obviously severely disturbed student BEATS HIMSELF UP for attention and the response from the proto-i-bankers in the corner is ‘now THAT will look really bad on his google search!’
December 17th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
Oh my god, he is SO hosed from Ivy.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
It’s sad that this kid is all fucked up, but perhaps this will help get the message across that the left isn’t the boogeyman it’s made out to be (See “War on Christmas”). In other words, no one is actually that intolerant of conservatives, and if they really want to get beat up, they have to do it themselves.
December 17th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Conservatives are so hardcore, they beat themselves up for not being conservative enough.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
I mean, whatever. I’m a studio art kid and I’m still freaked out about getting hired. I need a job next year. Nava will too. too bad all his future employers will know he likes to lie about shit and make false accusations.
I doubt he’s “seriously disturbed.” thats probably a little over-generous, eh? dont you think part of it is that he’s a stupid asshole?
December 17th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
or maybe a crazy asshole.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
He’s definitely seriously disturbed. He did almost the exact same thing at Groton and it was concluded that he had some serious mental health issues.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
hey, let’s play a game: pick one action to give campus social conservatives an even worse reputation!
December 17th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Now that I think about it, it is pretty funny. Two preppy Princeton kids dragging him into an alleyway and beating the crap out of him. That’s a good one.
December 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
is clearly nuts. a self-inflicted beating? wowzers.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Yeah, maybe this will get people to realize how fucked up all conservatives are. They’d go to any lengths to support their cause.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
Who was it going to be besides him? No one else cares enough about the bullshit political opinions (on either side of the aisle) of a college junior to make a fuss. Clearly this was always all about self promotion — someone clearly needed an ego fix.
Remaining question: who were his co-conspirators? Apparently the kid did genuinely take a beating, so someone else must be involved. Any guesses?
December 17th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I wouldn’t go knocking conservatives for this; this kid in particular is really sick and fucked up, but he’s clearly not the norm.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
SCOTT LAYNE FOR PRESIDENT! OF ANSCOMBE!
December 17th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
I don’t think he did it. It’s the scientologists. I’m telling you.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I feel kind of bad for the conservatives…
they lost their claim to calling themselves “oppressed”
December 17th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
on a related note, there is a film in the making. the working title is too game too fish and producers are thinking about cfa for the lead with alex krueger wyman playing the brick wall.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
You know who really needs to take some heat for this?: The Pton Admissions Committee. They knew about the episode at Groton and decided that Nava was still Princeton material? Anyone know anything about his family’s finances?… cause all I can imagine is that they made a hefty donation to buy back his golden ticket to the ivy league.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
good one. oh, and how long before christianarcani writes in?
December 17th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
You know who really needs to take some heat for this?: The Pton Admissions Committee. They knew about the episode at Groton and decided that Nava was still Princeton material? Anyone know anything about his family’s finances?… cause all I can imagine is that they made a hefty donation to buy back his golden ticket to the ivy league.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Its worse, he identified a stranger as the assailant:
“In the meantime, Nava was being transported to the campus health center to have his jaw examined. On the way, he saw someone wearing a stocking cap like the one worn by one of his assailants and called out to his security guard to “get that guy’s name”—thinking that this was the perpetrator”
December 17th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
he had a ski cap on his head and a handlebar moustache that he was stroking menacingly and and … think what someone who would beat up a closeted conservative would look like.. and a flowing cape and a monocle.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
is where this guy ought to go.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
His family’s not well off. Knowing him, I can say that I would have never seen this coming. He’s always appeared extremely nice whenever I’ve talked to him or seen him with people. I can’t think of any other explanation than some serious mental health issues.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:17 pm
He’s obviously trapped in the closet, but I don’t know if he lacks balls exactly. It takes a certain kind of profound bravery to beat yourself up, to sabotage your entire future, to maintain at such great cost the purity of your self-loathing. What he lacks is the ability to love and be loved.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
not very wealthy you say? oh dear, now that is terrible. really the worst thing to come out of this whole mess. whatever shall princeton do with a not very wealthy kid on its rolls.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Haha thanks for letting us know three times. I’m just kidding. But I still think it’s weird they admitted him after Groton incident. I mean, even if his family isn’t well off, the admissions committee didn’t see it coming? WTF?
Also, as a liberal, I will still not involve Conservatives as a whole in this mess. Although I think it takes a special brand of lunacy to assume that God does not want college students procreating until they have been through a ceremony or ritual called marriage, Anscombe as a whole has many reasonable members.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
This never would have happened at columbia. In nyc, you can just pay a harlem resident 8 cents to kick your ass for you.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:50 pm
His family’s not wealthy. Knowing him, I can say that I would have never seen this coming. He’s always appeared extremely nice whenever I’ve talked to him or seen him with people. I can’t think of any other explanation than some serious mental health issues.
December 17th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
comment was made in reference to an earlier query.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
CC ‘10: racist much?
December 17th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
P09, HANG YOUR HEAD IN SHAME.
It is you who is racist. Much.
But don’t beat yourself up about it. heh heh.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
This story is a complete coverup for what’s really going on. It’s time to tell the truth. Nava is NOT guilty. The gay mafia, scientology, terrace and princeton usg are behind the whole affair.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
high schools can’t release mental health issues and most likely the incident at groton wasn’t on his transcript. Most schools cover that sort of thing up because it can lead to lawsuit if the student doesn’t end up getting into college. Princeton probably knew nothing about what happened.
December 17th, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Actually, Nava had to write Hardagon a letter explaining why this incident occurred (I think this was reported at http://www.princetontory.blogspot.com). Why it was Hardagon and not Rapelye is a mystery.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
I am relieved to know that Penn remains the violent assault capital of the Ivy League. Long live the murderous quaker!
December 17th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
oh he was class of 08 he had to get therapy for a year and therefore he is now class of 09 according to the prince
December 17th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Here’s the truly sad thing for him. Google him now and for the next few years and all you’ll find is this story about his being a holier-than-thou liar. This will really ruin his reputation and probably life for the forseeable future as you *know* the first thing any IBank is going to do when they get his resume is google him. The invention of the internets was clearly a liberal conspiracy foisted on the unsuspecting by Al Gore.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
because we all know that everyone’s goal is to be an i-banker.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
@ the sad / funny thing about all this :
you SUCK.
The sad slash funny thing about all this is how proud you are to admit that you live your life around the prospect of licking grundle at goldman sachs. Here’s a tissue, go kill yourself.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
fight club taught me everything i needed to know about kicking the crap out of yourself… come now guys.
you really have to have an inflated opinion of your political weight on campus for this story to be even remotely plausible - is princeton really a turbulent political battlefield ready to explode? … no, no it isn’t.
Truly sad, I guess he needed some attention, though I would assume this wasn’t quite the outporing of pity and compassion that he had in mind when he came up with this stunt.
December 17th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
P’11….a little too young are we to be hosing people. Dont ya think?
Steve-o. We know that your cool because you know people who ran for Preident of Terrace. But he lost. Im sorry to say.
What is really tragic about this entire thing is that someone’s internal, tragic self has now become fuel for Ivy gate. Granted, he brought it upon himself, but honestly, its still truly lamentable. For his sake, and for everyone who knows him.
Jacob Savage. You are a little wise ass. But they like that in St. A’s, dont they?
December 17th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
What an amateur. Everyone knows that the first rule of kicking your own ass is that you never admit it.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Wow. I was always aware that conservative Princeton kids were self-obsessed, self-pitying losers, but not SUCH self-obsessed, self-pitying losers. Pathetic, really. And here I thought the Anscombers were supposed to be the morally upstanding students on campus.
December 17th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Wow. I was always aware that conservative Princeton kids were self-obsessed, self-pitying losers, but not SUCH self-obsessed, self-pitying losers. Pathetic, really. And here I thought the Anscombers were supposed to be the morally upstanding students on campus.
December 18th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Oh my God, assholes. Hit the “post comment” button, wait, reload, and check the page to see whether it registered. Stop submitting the same goddamn post like an exceptionally stupid monkey.
December 18th, 2007 at 9:55 am
actually he started out as ‘07 or earlier…i was in a freshman seminar with him fall ‘03.
December 18th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha… *gasp* hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
December 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
from an article I read on Nava:
“On Monday Dec. 17, Nava admitted to writing the e-mail threats — “we are watching you all. we will destroy you… you will suffer,” he wrote to himself and three other Anscombe members. Another recipient of the message: outspoken conservative politics professor Robert George, a member of President Bush’s Council on Bioethics, who had taught Nava in two classes, written him a letter of recommendation and recently agreed to act as his academic adviser. He also confessed to fabricating the assault on himself. He inflicted his own wounds, pummeling himself on the face, scraping his head against a brick wall and breaking a glass bottle over his head.”