Police at the University of Missouri-Columbia arrested a man Saturday night in an incident of racist vandalism left in front of a dormitory.
Benjamin A. Elliott, 18, an MU student, faces a charge of second-degree felony property damage. If convicted, he faces stiffer penalties because the charge could be prosecuted as a hate crime.
The racial slur, spray painted in black on the base of a sculpture in front of Hatch Hall, was discovered about 9:15 a.m. Saturday, said MU Police Capt. Brian Weimer. The slur included the N-word.
A student spotted the graffiti about 9:15 a.m. and sent a text message about it to Hatch Hall's residential coordinator, Weimer said. The coordinator then called police.
Elliott was arrested about 9:30 p.m. and later jailed in Boone County in lieu of a $4,500 bail, police said. He was released about 1:45 a.m. Sunday after posting bail.
Chancellor Brady Deaton said he was "dismayed and deeply offended" by the graffiti.
Police would not say what led police to arrest Elliott or what evidence police have in the case.
"That's something that's just going to have to come out in court," Weimer said.
Last February, two MU students, one from the St. Louis area and the other from western Missouri, dumped cotton balls across the front lawn of the campus' Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. The students were charged with littering--not a hate crime-- and sentenced in April to two years' probation, 80 hours of community service and a 60-day revocation of their driver's licenses.
