Black Panthers Offer Support to Duke Accuser

April 27, 2006 — -- The alleged victim in the Duke lacrosse rape case is getting support from the New Black Panther Party.

Members of the group were on Durham, N.C., street corners today, handing out fliers to publicize a rally and town hall meeting they have organized for next Monday.

The Black Panther Party has not met with the alleged victim, but her family says she does not want its help.

The family told ABC affiliate WTVD in Durham that while racial slurs were made during the alleged assault, the case is not about race. They say the accuser wants to focus on the alleged crime and believes assistance from the New Black Panther Party might create more tension.

The fliers the group is distributing show mugshots of Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the two lacrosse players accused of raping the 27-year-old dancer at a party on March 13. The fliers say, "Demonstrate Your Discontent" and "Had enough of disrespect and racism from Duke University?"

"I've been here since Monday morning and been on a mission to hit the campus since I been here," said Minister Najee Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party.

Muhammad says the group has waited more than a month after the alleged incident to come to Durham, because it wanted to see how the case developed. But he says his party arrived in Durham after hearing of alleged death threats against the accuser and her family.

Muhammad says he met with the family Wednesday. "I just told the family, yes, we will do security and she will be in good hands with us," Muhammed said.

The alleged victim's mother told a North Carolina newspaper that things have been chaotic since the arrests of two suspects and that her daughter needs to feel safe, but as of now, the family hasn't taken up the New Black Panther's offer of help.

This story was originally reported by Darla Miles of ABC News affiliate WTVD-TV in Durham, N.C.