Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
I hope this email finds you well. We are looking forward to everyone’s return to campus in August.
Today, I am providing updates on investigations into two recent bias incident reports:
July 10: A group of students reported being approached by a silver SUV. The occupants reportedly threw an egg that struck one of the students and then shouted anti-Semitic language. Since then, we have:
- Interviewed the impacted individuals to gather as much information as possible
- Performed a search of the area to look for the vehicle in question
- Extensively reviewed camera footage from the area to track and identify the vehicle in question
- Reviewed law enforcement databases for specific data related to the vehicle in question
- Interviewed a separate victim, with no affiliation to the University, in a possible related incident that happened in the City of Syracuse six days later
- Followed up on reported tips and information that have generated additional interviews
- Continued review of law enforcement databases for similar incidents to generate additional leads
- Reviewed past incidents in law enforcement databases for similar instances to generate leads
July 20: Flyers contained language derogatory toward Chinese and African American individuals. To investigate, we have:
- Searched the area to look for additional flyers; none of which were found
- Recovered flyers for analysis
- Interviewed several witnesses to gather more information
- Extensively reviewed camera footage and other electronic logs to identify a possible person of interest
Our team has worked collaboratively on both cases with the Syracuse Police Department and the New York State Police. As a reminder, if you have information about these cases or others, please call DPS at 315.443.2224. You can also anonymously report non-emergency information to DPS through the Silent Witness tool or the Rave Guardian mobile app.
Any bias-motivated incident reported to DPS will be posted on our public site, so that our campus community can remain informed. You can also report a bias incident and receive support through the STOP Bias website.
You may also subscribe to the bias incident page.
Sincerely,
Chief Bobby Maldonado