Wednesday, November 11, 2015

University Of Missouri Police Arrest Suspect For Posting Online Threats

University of Missouri Police on Wednesday announced they had arrested a suspect for posting threats on Yik Yak, a social media site that allows users to anonymously create and view discussion threads.

Jeff Roberson / AP

The university police department first became aware of threats made online around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, when these messages appeared on Yik Yak.

Despite the online posts, the university's emergency information center tweeted just after midnight that there was no threat to the campus.

Just after 6 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the university police department announced they apprehended a suspect for posting the threats. They added that the university is now operating on a regular schedule.

The suspect, who has not been identified, was not located on or near the University of Missouri campus at the time the threats were posted, police said.

Mizzou has been thrust in the national spotlight after protesters engaged in a weeks-long protest against university officials’ handling of reported incidents of racism on campus. On Monday, University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin and University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe both resigned from their positions.

Following Wolfe’s resignation, students gathered on campus to celebrate. At a campus quad, reporters were restricted from covering the public demonstrations, which led to a confrontation with a professor of mass media. On Tuesday, Melissa Clark apologized for her language and behavior, and resigned from her courtesy appointment title with the University of Missouri journalism school.

While Yik Yak purports to be anonymous, it reserves the right to share certain information from law enforcement agencies investigating criminal activity.

Yik Yak records a user's IP address at the time of the app's installation, as well as the IP address used for each message posted. The application also stores the GPS coordinates of a user's location when he or she posts a message, as well as the time and date the message was posted. Users are also required to provide a phone number when posting content to the app.

LINK: Mizzou Professor Resigns Title Amid Backlash To Asking For “Muscle” To Block Reporter

LINK: University Of Missouri System Leaders Resign Amid Pressure From Students

LINK: University Of Missouri Students Celebrate President’s Resignation On Campus




from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1iTQxaJ

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