SEATTLE — Western Washington University officials say they have arrested a 19-year-old student in connection with racial threats posted online against black students and others that closed the campus last week.
The student was arrested Monday on campus in Bellingham and booked into jail on suspicion of felony malicious harassment.
School officials said in a news release that the student has been suspended and banned from campus pending the outcome of legal proceedings and the university’s student conduct process.
The university worked with Yik Yak, an anonymous social media platform popular among college students, to learn names of the commenters, who posted pictures of a gun and references to lynching and nooses.
The threats came days after several student leaders suggested that the university mascot, a Viking, is racist.
University police are continuing to investigate.
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