29 year-old Eddie Curlin was arraigned in a Washtenaw County District Court for racist messages found at Eastern Michigan University last year. The former student is currently serving a one-to-five year prison sentence for another unrelated case.
EMU Police Chief Robert Heighes says his department was able to identify the suspect through surveillance video on campus and with the help of over 60 individuals they interviewed.
"As far as a motivation for this, it was totally self-serving. It was not driven by politics, it was not driven by race. It was an individual item done by one individual," says Heighes
The racist graffiti targeted African-Americans, and even though Curlin has been identified as a black man, Eastern plans to continue with its efforts of inclusiveness that it launched after the messages were discovered.
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— Jorge Avellan is a reporter for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him javellan@emich.edu