University Police arrested third-year College student Richard "Ricky" Kim Saturday afternoon after he allegedly punched a fellow third-year College student in the jaw.
University Police Capt. Michael Coleman confirmed that the arrest was made. Coleman declined to release reports on the incident, stating the need to maintain the confidentiality of the victim and any witnesses.
The incident followed Kim's refusal to remove trash from the International Relations Organization office during last weekend's Virginia International Conference Simulation, a model United Nations summit.
The incident between the two students stemmed from several VICS staffers' attempts to persuade Kim to participate in the clean-up for the conference, said Allison Snider, VICS Secretary-General.
When an IRO member asked Kim to take out the trash "he refused and became visibly angry," Snider said. "Taking the trash out was work anyone else would have been willing to do."
Kim, however, described a different scene. He said he was singled out to take out the trash - work he described as "telling me to clean the toilet. It's just degrading work."
When Snider confronted Kim about the trash, "he became rather hostile and began yelling at me," Snider said.
But Kim said Snider "was clearly on a power trip. It was a stupid argument about a power-hungry little clique."
Snider, on the other hand, said Kim's behavior intimidated her and threatened to ruin the success of the conference and the safety of the staff members and participants. She said her reaction was solely to protect the people "who worked so hard to make this conference work."
Kim said he was upset because Snider threatened to charge him for attending a conference at the University of California-Berkeley - a conference that Kim said he thought he had attended free because IRO had covered the cost.
When Kim allegedly refused to leave the Virginia conference Saturday, Snider asked an IRO officer to intervene, she said.
"When I tried to talk to Ricky he was visibly agitated and Allison was frightened by his actions," said the alleged victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"I asked him to leave for the safety of the other students and he refused. He got angry with me instantly and was even shaking a little bit," he said.
The two students went outside to discuss the conflict. According to the alleged victim, Kim would not cooperate with him.
"I wasn't mad at [the alleged victim]. I thought me and him were cool. He was defending [Snider] and he came up to start a fight with me. He started cursing at me right away," Kim said.
The alleged victim said he told Kim his "behavior was completely inappropriate, especially with a female student. [Kim] clearly was in no condition to be at the conference."
The two individuals gave different accounts of what occurred outside.
At that point, Kim reportedly asked the alleged victim if he wanted to fight and began moving closer to him. When the victim said he did not want to fight, Kim is alleged to have struck him in the jaw with a closed fist, according to the alleged victim.
But Kim said he was pushed first and will neither confirm nor deny striking the alleged victim.
"It was entirely unprovoked, I gave no indication that I wanted to fight and only wanted to get him away from the conference," the alleged victim said.
The alleged victim then asked two other IRO members to help him escort Kim from the conference because he was "adamant about not wanting to leave," he said.
The alleged victim then called the police who arrived at Newcomb Hall and arrested Kim.
Kim said he countered on Sunday by filing a warrant for the arrest of the alleged victim on an assault and battery charge for purportedly pushing him.
The alleged victim said the magistrate refused Kim's request.
A witness to the incident declined to comment.
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