There has been a major twist to yesterday's story of racial intimidation at the University of Wisconsin's Parkside campus The death threat lists found in the dorms turn out to be a hoax. They were faked by a student upset the UWP's very first reaction was not more forceful. From The Kenosha News.
...the student, whose name was not released to the media, told detectives she devised the hoax to bring attention to an earlier incident in the same campus dormitory where she lived and had placed copies of the death threat Thursday night. It included a list naming herself and 12 other students of color, which many other students viewed as a racially motivated “hit list.”
Buried towards the end of the story is a bit of key information.
...the female student who initially reported finding the makeshift nooses is not the alleged perpetrator of the hoax. He said detectives are continuing to look into whether others knew what was going on and might have been involved in the incidents.
The county sheriff's office is saying that there was never a threat. Apparently that means the first "makeshift noose", whatever it was, had no connection to anyone with racial intimidation or violence on their mind.
I am still uncertain about the second noose found the next day. The article does not make it clear if that was done by the hoaxer. And if it was not, then who did place it? Since the police indicate there was never a threat, I assume it was also the work of the hoaxer.
So there we have it. The good news is, the racial threats were a hoax. The better news is, the students and faculty rallied together during that time everyone thought the threats were real.
The bad news is, the hoaxer has done great damage to local racial relations. Those people who are natural bigots will point to this for years as "proof" racism is just so much whining. Those people who hope for better days feel betrayed. Will some be less inclined to speak up the next time a real issue crops up? Almost certainly.
At least the local Alpha Troll has not been rubbing salt into wounds. Yet.