Cops hunt suspects in 2 noose incidents
The Associated Press
11:07 AM EDT, October 12, 2007
Police were grappling Friday with two separate incidents of someone stringing up nooses in public places -- one at Columbia University and another outside a ground zero post office damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said there were no suspects in either incident, which both occurred this week on opposite ends of Manhattan.
At Columbia, detectives were still reviewing 56 hours of security camera images captured by seven security cameras in and around the building where the noose was discovered early Tuesday morning hanging from the doorknob of a black professor's office, Browne said.
Related links
Professor Madonna Constantine Photo
Anti-Semitic drawing found in Columbia bathroom
Another noose found
Noose incident won't silence Columbia professor
Black Columbia professor finds noose at office
Columbia rallies against hate Photos
In the second case, a noose was discovered Thursday dangling from a lamppost near the lower Manhattan post office. Building managers removed the noose, which was later turned over to the NYPD's hate crimes unit for investigation, police said.
"At this point, there was no target that was evident or any motive," U.S. Postal Inspection Service spokesman Al Weissman said Friday morning. He said no postal workers had reported any threats or other problems.
The post office at 90 Church St. was closed for nearly three years after the 2001 terrorist attacks, which left the 15-story building contaminated with asbestos, mercury and debris from the fallen twin towers.
Students, faculty and administrators at Columbia have denounced the attack on professor Madonna Constantine, 44, a professor of education and psychology who has written extensively about race.
Police were testing the 4-foot-long piece of twine for DNA evidence and interviewing students and faculty.Among those questioned was another Teachers College professor, Suniya S. Luthar, who had feuded with Constantine; police said she was not considered a suspect.
Meanwhile, police were called to the Ivy League campus again Thursday to probe another troubling discovery -- a caricature of a yarmulke-wearing man and a swastika found on a university bathroom stall door.
The hate crime unit was investigating the black-ink drawing, but police said there was no reason to believe the two incidents were linked.
University President Lee Bollinger said the sketch was promptly removed, adding that he was reluctant to call attention to such drawings because he did not want to "broadcast, in any way, the message they attempt to send or empower those behind them."
Nooses, charged with symbolism of lynchings in the Old South, have appeared in recent incidents around the country. Three white students hung nooses from a big oak tree outside a high school last year in Jena, La., fueling racial tensions. More recently, nooses have been found at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., and the Hempstead Police Department's locker room on Long Island.
Associated Press Writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this story.
Hjordy's Matos, a student at City College, attends a protest rally at Teachers College at Columbia University, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007, in New York, one day after Professor Madonna Constantine, who is black, discovered a hangman's noose on her office door at Teachers College. (Diane Bondareff, Associated Press / October 10, 2007)
Protesters rally at Teachers College at Columbia University October 10, 2007, in New York City. Black professor Madonna Constantine discovered a hangman's noose on her office door at the prestigious college yesterday sparking anger at the campus. (Mario Tama, Getty Images / October 10, 2007)
Protesters gather on Columbia University's main campus quad October 10, 2007 in New York. The rally was held to protest the discovery of a noose on the office door of an African-American professor. (Chris Hondros, Getty Images / October 10, 2007)
Protesters gather on Columbia University's main campus quad October 10, 2007 in New York. The rally was held to protest the discovery of a noose on the office door of an African-American professor. (Chris Hondros, Getty Images / October 10, 2007)
Protesters gather on Columbia University's main campus quad October 10, 2007 in New York. The rally was held to protest the discovery of a noose on the office door of an African-American professor. (Chris Hondros, Getty Images / October 10, 2007)
More articles
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nynoos1012,0,714113.story?coll=ny_entertainment_movies_util
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Anti-Semitic drawing found in Columbia bathroom
BY LAURA RIVERA laura.rivera@newsday.com; Peter Holley contributed to this st
October 12, 2007
Anti-Semitic drawings were found yesterday in a bathroom at Columbia University, prompting the school's president to denounce the second hate crime on campus in three days as police investigate the incident.
"Despite the irrational, destructive hatred that persists in our society and world, we do not accept this anywhere at this university," Columbia head Lee C. Bollinger said. The drawing, which police described as a caricature of a man wearing a yarmulke above a swastika, was found in a bathroom stall in Lewisohn Hall about midday and was removed.
Also yesterday, a noose was found at a post office at 90 Church St. in lower Manhattan, police said last night. Postal workers saw the noose on a light pole above scaffolding around 1 p.m. The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating.
At Columbia, students said the school's atmosphere was tolerant. "It's kind of eerie to think there's somebody among us who would leave hateful remarks in bathrooms," said Christy Pill, 25, a graduate student. Peter Holley contributed to this story.
more articles in /news/local/newyork
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nycolu125409940oct12,0,6115676.story?coll=ny_entertainment_movies_util
No comments:
Post a Comment