Black students and colleges across US targeted with racist threats day after Charlie Kirk killing

Joseph Gedeon, The Guardian

FBI said threats were ‘hoax calls’, although universities took measures to prevent incidents on campuses

Black students across the US were targeted this week by coordinated racist death threats, forcing at least seven historically Black colleges into emergency lockdowns just a day after the far-right activist Charlie Kirk was killed at Utah Valley University.

At New York University, Black students reportedly received a threatening manifesto specifically targeting them, according to an email seen by the Guardian from the university’s Black Student Union. The manifesto was said to contain “extremely graphic threats of gun violence” and stated the author was “coming for only n******”, citing the number of Black students as taking away from a “safe space” for white people.

In the email, the NYU Black Student Union criticized university officials for their “lack of transparency”, saying administrators waited more than six hours before informing students that the manifesto specifically targeted Black students. NYU did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least seven historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) went on lockdown on Thursday, including Alabama State University, Virginia State University, Hampton University in Virginia, Spelman College, Southern University and A&M College, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Bethune-Cookman University.

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The FBI told the Guardian in a statement it was “aware of hoax threat calls” to a number of HBCUs but that there was no information to indicate a credible threat.

Read more about the threats to HBCUs.

Kirk’s death makes us reflect on the racism and white supremacy in our society.