A day after Oberlin College canceled classes when a month of racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic graffiti graffiti culminated in the early-morning sighting of a figure wearing Ku Klux Klan robes, an Oberlin police spokesman suggested that the report of the KKK figure may have been mistaken, and that the college had already identified the vandals responsible for the hate graffiti.
"My understanding is that the individuals are college students and they have been identified. They are no longer on campus," Lt. Mike McCloskey told The Guardian. "The college is dealing with it internally, and we have been working in co-operation with the college."
We reported yesterday on rumors that faculty and administration members had been informed that the person responsible was associated with the Multicultural Resource Center and would be "disciplined internally." A student source tells us that all MRC staff and student staff are still on campus, which, if the police are correct, exonerates them.
According to the Guardian, there are two students responsible, "but it is unclear if they were motivated by racial hatred, or—as has been suggested—were attempting a commentary on free speech."
As for the figure in robes: "Officers checked the area and were unable to locate anybody," McCloskey said. "College security later saw a student wrapped in a blanket." Police apparently believe it to have been an "innocent mistake."
[Guardian, Chronicle-Telegram, image via Oberlin Microagressions]