CAMPUS: Bridge Exclusive: Cowboy tells his side
TAMIU student speaks on alleged harassment, University court cases
By Kaily Olivo
Assistant Sports Editor
Published Tuesday, April 15, 2025
[Editor’s Note: The Bridge was unaware until part way through the interview when student Edwin Torres admitted he was not allowed on campus by TAMIU’s University Police, due to a criminal-trespass warning, at the time of the Spring 2025 interview at The Bridge’s office, PLG 220. The Bridge attempted to interview Torres virtually, but he insisted on an in-person interview. The Bridge would also like to make it clear that our staff does not condone any form of harassment. If students believe they are being harassed, they should file an anonymous complaint on TAMIU’s online reporting system called Report It: www.tamiu.edu/reportit. TAMIU’s Title IX Coordinator Lorissa M. Cortez can be reached at TitleIX@tamiu.edu or at (956) 326-2857. All Title IX complaints may also be filed with the Office of Civil Rights (Dallas Office), U.S. Department of Education, 1999 Bryan St., Suite 1620, Dallas, TX 75201-6810 or by calling (214) 661-9600.]
Back in Fall 2024, a student was reported for harassing women on campus. The alleged harasser, Texas A&M International University junior political science major Edwin “Cowboy” Torres, shares his side of the story.
Torres was reported by three separate individuals over the course of the semester, followed by numerous other complaints.
“I just want to say it’s completely exaggerated claims and false statements,” Torres began the exclusive interview with The Bridge staff in Spring 2025.
Torres claimed to have not known the identity of the individuals who reported him or where the claims originated.
“So, I couldn’t even properly defend myself until I had my day in court and they were required by law to also bring me the evidence they had against me,” Torres recalled. “So, I exercised my right to discovery, which is the evidence they have against you and they didn’t have [any] evidence against me, just these false claims … It’s literally just a girl talking, like making a report.”
Torres said there was no video evidence of him groping or flashing individuals, as reported.
“That is completely insane,” Torres said. “If that was true, I would’ve been in prison.”
According to the Texas law firm, Scheiner Law’s website, “When a student is accused of sexual misconduct, the repercussions extend far beyond the potential criminal charges. These students may face immediate consequences under Title IX, the federal law that addresses sexual harassment and assault in educational settings.
“Title IX investigations can result in severe sanctions, such as suspension, expulsion or other disciplinary actions, even before formal criminal proceedings begin.”
Torres recalls these alleged events as attempts to get to know a young woman. The interaction began when Torres asked if he could walk with her to the library from the Academic Innovation Center.
Torres prompted the conversation because he saw her wearing a cross necklace, like him; she later mentioned hers was a family heirloom.
“I got to know her,” he recalled. “I walked her to the library. When I said ‘bye’ to her, I gave her a quick hug and that was it. Three weeks later … apparently she saw me walking with another girl on campus and I didn’t recognize her; so, that’s when she made the complaint.”
Torres claims he was just trying to get to know her and never meant to make anyone uncomfortable, but still felt the situation turned hypocritical.
“I’m sorry she felt some type of way when I was walking with another girl like the next week,” Torres said. “But how is that fair? … girls can have all these guy best friends and talk to multiple guys at once but if I do it, I’m like this predator, misogynistic, sexist, like these double standards are insane.”
To Torres’s surprise, he discovered that TAMIU rules state that an individual is allowed to withdraw any prior consent whenever they choose. He views this as unfair and asked about filing a charge against the individual and to withdraw his prior consent as well.
The TAMIU Police Department informed Torres that the only way to do so was to offer a substantial reason why Torres would withdraw his consent.
Besides that occurrence, Torres had another complaint filed against him by one of his political science classmates. Torres recalls debates got heated.
“One day, we were debating whether gender ideologies affect political leadership,” Torres said. “So, whether I’m a guy or girl, how would that affect my ability to lead in a political landscape?”
During this debate, Torres recalled the class constantly putting down men using words such as “violent,” “racist” and “rapist pigs,” which he said caught him by surprise.
“I kind of took that a little personal,” Torres said. “ So … [I] told them I believe men can effectively lead more than women … They can be way more effective as leaders than women and that shocked everybody.”
As a result, for the rest of the semester, Torres received rude remarks and comments regarding his beliefs, including being called “sexist” and “misogynistic.”
“Well, in critical situations—that’s what we’re learning in class that week as well—no matter how many hours a woman has trained, I’ve just noticed that in critical situations they always panic, and some men do as well but it’s not as often as women do and that’s a point that I brought up,” Torres said. “They panic easier. They’re less rational. They’re emotional creatures …”
Following this, another complaint hit Torres. He was reported to have been sexist, making people uncomfortable and harassing others in class.
“I spoke my mind … that’s not harassment, that’s literally just freedom of speech,” Torres said. “So, like these people are trying to turn a situation to something that it was never.”
Despite Torres facing those reports last semester, he had some classmates from then in this Spring semester’s classes.
“I’m thinking we’re all mature. We have different ideologies, but we can still coexist,” Torres said. “Well, one of those girls that had it out for me … I had said ‘bye’ to her. I gave her a quick hug and somebody made a post [saying], ‘ … If he touched you in any way, that’s assault by contact. Like, you go to UPD and report him.’ So, that’s what she did [and] she was like ‘Oh, he hugged me and I didn’t consent to it,’ and that’s where the citation came from.”
Torres recalls only two individuals reporting him for making them uncomfortable due to the hug he gave them and the comments he made out of the 150 campus folks he claims to have spoken to.
In spite of these public circumstances, Torres spoke his mind on social media platforms, including Facebook.
“Sometimes, I do think back and, yeah, I should’ve not said some things and I think that’s kind of what exacerbated the situation,” he assessed.
With Torres’s online activity, another report hit him.
“One of these complaints came from, I guess I made a derogatory term against women where I called them a little bit overweight like a land animal kind of,” Torres said. “So after that, that’s when another girl from one of my classes—she is a little bit, you know, on the bigger side—she complained that I was making her uncomfortable after I made that post.
“… I definitely could’ve handled that better. I offended some people on campus, I guess. … [But] these girls are allowed to crap on men for a whole week straight like nothing happens, but as soon as I say one thing—one wrong thing about women—my whole life’s over. Like, how is that even fair?”
Torres said TAMIU’s “liberal stronghold” resulted in these remarks toward him.
“[TAMIU is] so intolerant. It’s actually becoming toxic and it’s impeding on everyone else’s educational experience when they just try to have their opinion echoed the same over-and-over again. No one’s gonna learn anything new. We’re just gonna keep repeating the same stuff over-and-over again,” Torres said. “I just feel like I was bringing something new to them and they couldn’t see that.”
Besides this, Torres said other miscellaneous complaints were made against him reporting that he followed people in the parking lot to their cars.
“… I drive to school, so I park [outside of] the same building as my classmate; so, I was literally just walking back to my car and, like, I was parked near her,” Torres said. “I was never following anyone or stalking them—like no—I literally drive to school and we parked close to each other and we have the same class and we had the same schedule; so, that was it.
“… They’re exaggerating the smallest claims and they’re using everything against me—like the smallest transgressions are being used against me—and it’s completely unfair …”
In one report, Torres said the individual stated he stared at her pervertedly. He blamed this on his astigmatism.
Despite these reports, Torres began the process of a lawsuit against TAMIU PD.
“So, I sued [TAMIU PD] because [the Student Government Association] and TAMIU are different entities and organizations,” he explained. “So, with the [SGA], they allowed me to continue my degree online, but they can’t do anything about TAMIU PD’s criminal trespass, which I’m violating right now—ironically.”
This lawsuit stems from Torres’s criminal trespass warning for a year; so, he is unable to attend in-person classes. Through this, Torres said one of his complaints impedes his education, which is paid for through FAFSA.
“Technically, you can make a case that they’re wasting educational funds by having me sit on the sideline—not letting me use the gym or the library that’s entitled to me,” Torres claimed. “And then it’s a violation of the Eighth Amendment, right? I know … ‘This case cannot go in court because she has qualified immunity.’ Now, if they violate one of our core amendment rights, like on the Bill of Rights, the [first] 10 amendments. Qualified immunity does not apply, so she has violated the Eighth Amendment, by punishing me unusually and cruelly in the way that this punishment will have long-lasting effects on my education, career, my reputation and my psychological mental health.”
The Eighth Amendment reads, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Rather this amendment applies here is up for debate and would be up to the courts to decide.
Torres waived his right to legal counsel and chose to represent himself in front of the jury.
“So, the interrogation was just all me, by myself, against like six police officers,” he recalled. “So, yeah, I’ve been doing everything completely on my own from what I learned here at TAMIU. It’s ironic that I’m, like, using it against them, but gotta do what you gotta do.”
Torres said his suit is for $10,000—two semesters’ worth of tuition, which is how long the criminal trespass lasts. This lawsuit would pay for Torres’s tuition if he wins the favor of the jury.
“I just want to say that I have nothing against anyone. I just want to … come back to campus like a normal student and just finish my degree. I’ve never liked online classes; so, it sucks that they, like, forced me to do online,” Torres said. “… I have no means of retaliation and I could sue these victims, but that’s already too [many] lawsuits. I’m thinking about it, though.
“I was just shooting my shot on campus. I didn’t mean to make anyone uncomfortable,” Torres said. “At any point in time if these girls had ever told me like, ‘Hey, like, you’re making me uncomfortable’ or like, ‘I don’t like you,’ which one of the girls did and I left her alone. Yeah, I would’ve left them alone … But that’s why the charges are dismissed. I never did anything wrong. I’m not a criminal, so don’t treat me like one.”
Torres also said he launched a criminal investigation against the TAMIU Student Network on Facebook.
“… They did break some laws on that page,” Torres claimed. “I wasn’t lying when I said the only one being harassed here was me … if you go on the Texas penal code, it says right there ‘taking pictures of someone without their consent and posting them online, spreading false claims,’ which they were all doing that.”
Besides this, Torres claims the page doxxed him, posting his phone number and social media information. Since then, he says he receives no-caller-ID calls.
“On that web page, they’re acting like I’m the criminal here—like I’m this big, bad wolf and it’s like—no, it’s the other way around,” Torres said. “If anyone has been a victim of anything, it’s been me.”
Despite Torres’s side of the story, student safety at TAMIU remains a top priority.
“Considering that this should be one of the safest spots, outside of our home … school should be the second-safest [place] that we go [to],” freshman Aitza Chung said. “… We are here by choice. We have our majors. We’re going here for education, solely for the purposes of just benefiting each other and us …”
Chung rates TAMIU’s safety a seven out of 10. Chung believes TAMIU can raise its safety by having more environments that include safety—whether regarding gun control, violence, etc.
“They have really good enforcement where they let us know [of anything],” Chung said. “… We might need to enforce something a little more because, regardless, we’re never prepared for any type of situation … Since we do live in a mildly big campus, people when they’re alone … things like that can always be helpful because anything can always happen at any time of the day.”
