College student suspended after sending lynching messages to black students
The investigation at the University of Oklahoma is ongoing
A student at the University of Oklahoma has been suspended while the school investigates racist messages that included racial slurs and a daily "lynching" calendar that were sent to black students at the University of Pennsylvania.
Several black students were added to messages on the GroupMe app on Friday titled “N****r Lynching,” “Mud Men,” and “Trump is Love.” Following an investigation involving Penn Police and the FBI, Oklahoma University President David Boren sent an email to Penn administration announcing the student’s temporary suspension, The Daily Pennsylvanian reports.
"We are absolutely appalled that earlier today Black freshman students at Penn were added to a racist GroupMe account that appears to be based in Oklahoma," Penn President Amy Gutmann said, along with other officials, in an email to the community . "The account itself is totally repugnant: it contains violent, racist and thoroughly disgusting images and messages. This is simply deplorable. Our police and information security staff are trying to locate the exact source and to determine if any steps can be taken to block the account."
Authorities with Penn, OU and the FBI will continue investigating the messages to find out if more people were involved.
The incident comes amid reports of hate crimes against black and Hispanic Americans, migrant workers, Muslims, LGBT people and minorities following Donald Trump's shock election victory.