Racist graffiti depicting a Black person being lynched appeared on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus on Oct. 12 in Fort Myers, Florida. Administrators have been investigating the incident for two weeks and responded this week after rising student concerns.
In addition to the lynching whiteboard illustration, there was a message threatening to “Kill N—–s.”
According to NBC2, the perpetrator left the disturbing imagery in Seidler Hall, which houses the College of Arts and Sciences. The hall tends to be open throughout the night to all students. Investigators believe the perpetrator went into the building early Oct. 12 and left the message. Biology professor Sharon Isern discovered the vandalism hours later, per Fusion.net.
Screenshot via Twitter
Campus police are still investigating the incident, but they have no leads.
“There is no active criminal investigation as no crime occurred,” Chief Steven Moore told the student paper Eagle News. “This was on a white board with the proper type of pens so easily erased, therefore, no vandalism. As there is no crime, there is no hate crime.”
After the incident sent shockwaves through the campus, FGCU sent NBC2 a statement:
“While occurrences such as this are very rare at FGCU, we strongly condemn this hateful expression which is contrary to the civil and mutually respectful culture of our campus community.”
