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Attorney: Reggie Lynch has requested panel hearing

Attorney Ryan Pacyga spoke to media on Wednesday, saying Lynch denies any sexual contact in either of two alleged incidents and expressing concern about his case in light of the #MeToo movement.

MINNEAPOLIS - The attorney for U of M basketball player Reggie Lynch says they will request a panel hearing, after a recommendation that Lynch be expelled due to sexual misconduct allegations.

Attorney Ryan Pacyga spoke to the media on Wednesday, saying Lynch denies any sexual contact in either of the two alleged incidents.

The U of M’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office found Lynch responsible for sexual misconduct in an alleged assault April 7, 2016. That finding recommended he be expelled.

The EOAA also recommended Lynch be suspended for misconduct in a separate incident alleged to have happened April 28, 2016.

Pacyga said one allegation was of forcible intercourse, and the other allegation was of “digital penetration.” He said he could not say when each was reported to the school, but said the first meeting with the EOAA for each case was in October of 2017.

Lynch continues to practice with the team, but is suspended from school and cannot play in games. He is a senior set to graduate in the spring.

Requesting a hearing from the Student Sexual Misconduct Subcommittee is the next step for students who want to appeal an EOAA ruling. In the case of 10 U of M football players accused of being involved in a sexual assault last September, the subcommittee upheld the recommended punishment for five of them but overturned or reduced discipline for the other half.

If either party is unhappy with the ruling of the panel, they can then appeal to the provost.

Lynch was arrested and briefly jailed on May 8, 2016, after a woman accused him of raping her. Prosecutors eventually decided they did not have enough evidence to charge that case.

While speaking to media Wednesday, Pacyga said he is “afraid for” Lynch and his other clients in light of the #MeToo movement, and expressed concern about "stale accusations" for which there is no possibility of gathering physical evidence.

"This is not the perfect analogy but it seems to me it's a little bit like where there was all of this hysteria when World War II started and we had the Japanese internment camps and everybody rushed out of fear to do something like that," he said.

Pacyga expressed concern about a "shoot first and ask questions later" climate.

"We've got the #MeToo movement right now," he said. "Maybe we're gonna come up with a 'What about me?' movement."

A female reporter, visibly offended, responded to Pacyga, saying, "I feel like you're taking down the #MeToo movement. Part of the #MeToo movement, in case you're wondering, is for women were scared to death to come forward and had some real fear of repercussions. So it just feels a little like you're grandstanding about this, and I think you should probably be careful with that."

Pacyga responded and said "in no way shape or form" was he taking down the movement.

"'We've needed that awareness," he said. "But we can't get so caught up in that we all of the sudden whittle away or eliminate or decide we're not going to stand up for the person who says, 'No I didn't.'"

WATCH BELOW: Full press conference with Reggie Lynch attorney Ryan Pacyga

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