After multiple threats were made against black students attending the University of Missouri- Columbia on social media websites such as YikYak, a suspect was arrested in connection to the controversy.
Hunter M. Park, 19, was arrested during the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday, Nov. 11 after allegedly writing on the anonymity-based social media app that he would “shoot every black person he sees” on Wednesday, in addition to many other threats. It has also been reported that several bandana-laden students were also seen on campus shouting racial epithets at black students who walked past them. Park is reportedly not a student at this particular school, but studies at an nearby institution. He is being held at the Boone County Jail on $4,500 bail, and is being charged with making terroristic threats. The school sent out a security update to the students notifying them of Park’s arrest and that a threat no longer lingers.
Campus police confirmed Tuesday that a “phoned-in threat” was sent to the school’s Black Culture Center, prompting the school to lockdown the building, NBC News reports. However, no suspicious activities or items were found.
Another more direct threat . via Black and white students are scared #Mizzou pic.twitter.com/MS8DcPWIAr
— Bradley J. Rayford (@BradleyRayford) November 11, 2015
Threats like these should not be taken lightly. Stay safe, Mizzou. pic.twitter.com/OyN2DKj6BU
— Lydia McAllister (@lmack_12) November 11, 2015
There are guys in a black Chevy Tahoe driving around yelling racial slurs at the black students who are leaving
— Bradley J. Rayford (@BradleyRayford) November 11, 2015
This is not the first time this week that the institution has been in the news. The President of the university, Tim Wolfe, resigned Monday (Nov. 9) after allegations from multiple students saying complained about the use of racial slurs by students on countless occasions. Pointing to Wolfe’s “negligence” of the matter, black members of the school’s football team boycotted activities and said they would not play until the president resigned.