Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

MU police arrest student in Rolla after social media threats


Hunter M. Park

By THE TRIBUNE'S STAFF
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Updated: 6:50 am, Wed Nov 11, 2015

University of Missouri police have arrested a suspect in connection with threats posted on Yik Yak and other social media services that caused widespread fear on campus Tuesday night.

MUPD Maj. Brian Weimer said in a news release Wednesday morning that police arrested Hunter M. Park, 19, at about 1:50 a.m. on suspicion of making a terroristic threat on the social network. MU police contacted Park, who is white, in Rolla and brought him to Columbia, where they arrested him.

Park is a student at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, according to the school's online directory. He was being held Wednesday morning at the Boone County Jail on a $4,500 bond. Park's home is listed as Lake St. Louis, according to jail records.

Park was not on or near campus when the threats were made, MU spokesman Christian Basi said in a separate news release.

MUPD Maj. Brian Weimer was quoted in the release saying additional officers were on campus Tuesday night, and students were safe despite the threats. Several students were calling for the cancellation of Wednesday classes, but Basi said in the release that MU will operate on its normal schedule.

At least one of the threats targeted black students. Black students were also the target of threats posted on anonymous platforms Yik Yak and Erodr in December, when posters encouraged the burning of the Gaines Oldham Black Culture Center on campus after a demonstration against racial inequality [ http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/mu-administrators-monitor-social-media-after-racist-comments/article_32b7f809-51e2-5a74-8eb2-804bc96bb401.html ].

A threat forced the evacuation of the culture center Tuesday night while members of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus met with students, Rep. Brandon Ellington, D-Kansas City, said in a news release. The caucus met with outgoing Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, who is leaving the position Jan. 1, and student members of the group Concerned Student 1950, which has led protests against racial inequality for the past several weeks on campus.

In a message posted on MU Alert at 7:44 p.m. Tuesday, police said they were aware of social media threats and had increased security. A follow-up message at 10 p.m. simply said police were investigating the threats.

"Investigators have been called in specifically to identify" the posts' authors, Weimer said.

Weimer said the MU Police Department had additional officers patrolling campus and would continue to staff extra officers Wednesday. He said MUPD seldom sees similar threats on social media.

Officers were on Carnahan Quadrangle at about 10 p.m. Tuesday while members of Concerned Student 1950 packed up tents and other items from a campsite the students had called home for the past week. The group, which is named for the first year a black graduate student was admitted to MU, had been camping out on the quad to call for Wolfe's resignation or removal from office.

Elizabeth Hurst, a freshman at MU, said she might not attend class Wednesday because of the threats.

"I'm afraid for my peers," she said. "This shouldn't be happening — it's 2015."

Hurst said she wants to know what she can do to help improve the campus climate when it comes to race.

"I will never feel oppression because of the color of my skin," said Hurst, who is white.

Freshman Sam David said as she walked through the MU Student Center that she feels scared on campus at night.

"At first I was scared for" Concerned Student 1950, "but now I feel these people" making threats "may go after students no matter their color," David said.

Look for more on this developing story.

© 2015 Columbia Daily Tribune

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/mu-police-arrest-student-in-rolla-after-social-media-threats/article_9e14b1ca-a58f-5c01-9be2-a95500a519c4.html [with comments]


--


University of Missouri police ID suspect in online death threats

November 11, 2015
[...]
The threats posted on YikYak and other social media websites Tuesday threatened to "shoot every black person I see."
[...]
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-university-of-missouri-tension-threats-20151111-story.html [with comments]


--


What’s Really Going On at Yale

[ http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/11/06/students-question-administrative-silence-about-campus-race-related-incidents/ (with comments)]
Nov 8, 2015
https://medium.com/@aaronzlewis/what-s-really-going-on-at-yale-6bdbbeeb57a6 [with comments] [also at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-lewis/whats-really-going-on-at-yale_b_8512736.html (with comments)]


--


in addition to (linked in) the balance of this string ( http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=118398559 and following, including in particular http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=118409432 ), see also e.g. (linked in):

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111804225 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=111923350 and preceding (and any future following)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=114932801 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=115531109 and preceding (and any future following)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=116287703 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=116678132 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=113494423 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=113550970 and preceding (and any future following)