In addition to the graffiti left in front of Hatch Hall, the Columbia Police Department had a second offensive graffiti message reported Saturday.
In this message, the words “fuck you Jew” were spray painted on a car parked at 1517 Ross St., CPD spokeswoman Jill Wieneke said in an e-mail. She said the victim whose car was vandalized told investigators the vandalism occurred sometime between Thursday, Feb. 10 and Saturday.
Reports about this second act rolled in about 12 hours after the words “Nigger Month” were found spray painted on a statue outside of Hatch Hall. Wieneke said this led CPD to believe to two incidents could be related.
“The investigation revealed some similarities to case MU had at Hatch Hall,” Wieneke said. “The paint used in both incidents was similar. The time frame of both incidents overlaps as well.”
Freshman Ben Elliott was arrested Saturday evening in connection with the vandalism outside of Hatch, and Wieneke said CPD suspects he is responsible for the second incident as well. Elliott has not had formal charges brought against him and the incident is still under investigation.
“There were no witnesses in this incident and no video, so the lab results will determine whether or not we have probable cause to make an arrest,” Wieneke said.
Evidence from the scene of the second crime has been collected and photographed, and now the police are awaiting lab results. Wieneke said this process would likely take several months.
Another car at the same address was also vandalized, but nothing racial was written.
The MU Police Department arrested Elliott at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree property damage, which is typically a class B misdemeanor. Given the incident’s classification as a hate crime, the charge became a class D felony because of the Missouri Hate Crimes Statute.
“We won’t divulge how the arrest was made,” MU Police Department Capt. Brian Weimer said. “That’s something that has to come out later.”
Chancellor Brady Deaton temporarily suspended Elliott on Monday, and he now awaits the student conduct judicial process. After this process is completed, the suspension will be lifted, to be replaced by a final sanction.
The Legion of Black Collegians met Wednesday evening to discuss the incident and encouraged anyone feeling threatened with bias, such as this, to report it on the MU Equity Office’s website.