Syracuse University stepped up safety patrols on campus Tuesday after receiving multiple reports that a purported "white supremacist manifesto" was posted online and being shared with students.
Kenton Buckner, the police chief in Syracuse, New York, said his department was made aware of the document late Monday night and its contents appear to be the same manifesto written by the man suspected in the massacre at two New Zealand mosques in March.
"It's a very disturbing document if you read it," Buckner said at a news conference. Details about the manifesto were first reported by the independently run school newspaper The Daily Orange.
Earlier, the school's Department of Public Safety said the purported document was attempted to be shared digitally via AirDrop to cellphones of people inside the Bird Library. The AirDrop function allows Apple users to swap files on their iPhones and other Mac computers.
Officials added that no person has come forward about receiving such a document, and because there was no specific threat to the school, classes were resuming Tuesday as normal. Some professors, however, noted that students skipped classes given the atmosphere of anxiety on campus.
Syracuse police said the contents of the manifesto are concerning enough to open a criminal investigation — the second in as many weeks. Police are also investigating how a swastika appeared in a snowbank across from a complex where students live.
As of now, Buckner added, the two incidents don't appear to be connected.
There's been other hate incidents at the university this month. A donor has offered a $50,000 reward to help find those involved in the spate of racist and anti-Semitic acts at Syracuse University since Nov. 7, including graffiti in a residential building targeting Asians and African Americans with slurs.
The New York State Police and the FBI are also assisting in the latest investigation.
The Department of Public Safety said Tuesday it has stationed security officers in strategic areas around campus and increased walking patrols to all residence halls and campus buildings.
The attempt to share the manifesto is the latest act to rattle Syracuse's campus of more than 22,000 students, and comes a day after more racist graffiti was discovered at the university following school officials' announcement that they were implementing a school-wide suspension of all fraternity activities because of an allegedly racist incident last weekend.
The Department of Public Safety said in a statement that it was investigating vandalism with derogatory language toward African Americans and school officers were interviewing residents.
That follows department officials saying they had gathered "substantial evidence" that a group of fraternity members on Saturday subjected a black student to a "verbal racial epithet."
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Only one fraternity was said to be involved, but university Chancellor Kent Syverud said Sunday that a temporary ban would be instituted on all fraternities.
"Given recent history, all fraternities must come together with the University community to reflect upon how to prevent recurrence of such seriously troubling behavior," Syverud said.
The suspension came amid student protests about previous incidents of racism and a request from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to investigate.
The governor on Tuesday called for Syracuse University's Board of Trustees to install a monitor to "effectively investigate" the string of incidents, adding that Syverud has failed to handle "this matter in a way that instills confidence." The state police's Hate Crimes Task Force has also been directed to help investigate the reports of the manifesto.
Syverud's office did not immediately return a request for comment.
