This post originally appeared at https://wisconsindailystar.com/news/no-leads-uw-madison-investigation-into-racial-slurs-stalled/cfix/2024/08/27/

by Pedro Rodriguez-Aparicio

The University of Wisconsin Madison does not have any leads on who left racial slurs at its arboretum.

“The incident you’re referring to remains under investigation,” Marc Lovicott, the executive director of communications for the university’s police department, told The College Fix via email.

“There have been no arrests, no suspects identified, and no leads,” Lovicott said.

Someone left “graffiti” in June at the university’s arboretum according to a police report obtained by The Fix.

One message, “F*** Ni**ers T” was left on a walkway, according to the report. Around the same area, messages including “The Hate Ni***ers,” “Rape,” and “N*g,” and the word “f*g” were written.

The report stated:

Approximately 30 feet away from the [F*** Ni**gers message] on the wooden plank walkway, a tree three feet to the south of the wooden plank pathway had been marked. While the tree had been clearly marked with paint, the message left was undiscernible.

The message was approximately five feet in height and three feet in length. On the wooden plank walkway, approximately 15 feet away from the marked tree, “The Hate Ni***ers” was sprayed. This message covered two entire segments of the wooden plank walkway and was approximately 12 feet in length and two feet in height.

On the wooden plank walkway, approximately 20 feet away from the previously mentioned message, the following messages were sprayed: “N*g” “FUCK” “Rape.”

These messages were each approximately two feet in length and two feet in height and spaced approximately four feet apart. On a rock approximately 10 feet to the south of the wooden plank walkway from the above-mentioned messages, “N*g” had been sprayed. The message was approximately two feet in length and one foot in height.

Park ranger Aundrea Taylor told the police officer “there existed trail cameras along the trails in the area.”

Land Care Manager Michael Hansen, who has access to the footage, did not initially respond to multiple requests from the police officer to get an estimate of the damage and access to the video, according to the report.

“I inquired as to if he would be able to provide me with an estimate for the damage done by the graffiti,” the officer wrote in his report.

“Lastly, I asked Hansen if it would be possible to review trail camera footage in a bid to identify the creator of the graffiti. At this time, I have received no response,” the police officer wrote.

“Hansen replied to my email and informed the nearest trail camera in the area was not active over the weekend when
this incident would have occurred,” a supplemental report stated several days later. “Hansen added it would be unlikely that the trail camera would have captured the incident given its positioning.”

The damage was estimated at around $100.

Hansen has not responded to requests for comment from The Fix in the past several weeks.

The Fix asked for comment via email and phone on the progress of the investigation and if any preventive measures would be implemented to halt future acts of vandalism and hate speech.

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Pedro Rodriguez-Aparicio – Florida State University
Photo “University of Wisconsin Madison” by Rosina Peixoto. CC BY-SA 3.0.

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