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The Department of Public Safety has no suspects in its investigation into racist flyers found in three Syracuse University buildings. 

The flyers, which contained racist language targeting Chinese students, were found in Eggers Hall, Huntington Hall and the Hall of Languages on March 10. 

DPS reviewed security camera footage, but the flyers were posted outside the range of cameras, said Chief Bobby Maldonado in a campus-wide email Wednesday. The department has also interviewed multiple people but hasn’t been able to identify any witnesses or suspects, he said. 

The department also has no updates in its investigation into a Feb. 27 incident where two individuals directed anti-Asian language toward a student entering their apartment complex on Comstock Avenue. 

The department immediately interviewed the victim and also conducted multiple canvases of the neighborhood, including interviews with neighbors. No camera footage of the area was available, and a review of additional camera footage from nearby did not provide any leads, Maldonado said.

DPS is also investigating a racist “Zoombombing” incident on Feb. 17 where an unknown person allegedly hacked into a student organization’s meeting, typed a racist statement into the chat function repeatedly and played offensive music. 

The department worked with SU’s Information Technology Services to identify IP addresses, but the individuals involved in the incident used methods to obscure their true location to avoid identification, Maldonado said. The Syracuse Police Department, state police and the FBI were all notified about the incident, he said.

DPS has also created a page on its website to host policies and procedures for public access and has already published several policies, Maldonado said. The update comes after former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch released an independent review of the department that recommended it make nearly all of its operating procedures public. 

Lynch’s 97-page report, which is the product of a year-long investigation into how the department interacts with members of the SU community and how officers interacted with students during protests on campus this past year, outlines 23 recommendations for improving the department.

DPS has also begun scheduling trainings on hate crimes, procedural justice, principled policing and trauma-informed policing, Maldonado said. The department plans to schedule additional training for officers, he said.

Published on March 31, 2021 at 8:04 pm

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3