Graffiti proclaiming, “White supremacy is a disease,” appeared on the walls of University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Library Wednesday night, according to UW Police Department.
UWPD responded to reports of the graffiti at Memorial Library 7 p.m. Wednesday. UWPD Thursday morning also found graffiti featuring similar phrases condemning racism near the Humanities building and an undisclosed campus location, UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott said.
Graffiti still there this morning pic.twitter.com/6pwbYJ4ywa
— Leah Linscheid (@news3leah) March 17, 2016
The graffiti near the Humanities building declared, “Racism in the air, don’t breath.” Each piece of graffiti was signed “God,” leading police to believe the same suspect is likely responsible for the three reported cases, Lovicott said.
Lovicott said the graffiti reported Wednesday night and early Thursday morning is not new for UWPD. He said they have seen cases of graffiti from the same suspect for the past six months.
Graffiti at Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery follows series of campus hate, bias incidents
The new graffiti, Lovicott said, could be a response to a recent increase in the amount of hate and bias related incidents reported on the UW campus.
“This is an individual who is trying to get a message across,” Lovicott said. “Granted what’s been happening on campus over the last few weeks, [hate and bias incidents] have probably sparked the most recent graffiti cases.”
The graffiti in all three locations was removed Thursday morning, Lovicott said.
UWPD is examining surveillance video to attempt to identify the suspect.
