A student at Texas A&M University who claimed he found racist notes left on his car was accused by campus cops of leaving them there himself.
A&M senior Isaih Martin, 21, posted an image on Twitter of the notes he found on his car parked outside a campus apartment building in June saying ‘all lives matter,’ ‘you don’t belong here’ and the n-word.
The alleged discovery later prompted an investigation and $1,200 reward offered for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.
Campus cops, however, dropped the probe after they reviewed surveillance video and claim that Martin may have placed the notes on the vehicle himself.
Martin insists the investigators are wrong and says he did not place the notes on his own car.
A&M senior Isaih Martin, who is black, posted an image on Twitter of racist notes (pictured) he found on his car parked outside a campus apartment building in June saying ‘all lives matter,’ ‘you don’t belong here’ and the n-word
Martin (pictured) after posting the image of the notes on social media prompted an investigation by the university
Texas A&M also offered a $1,200 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect
A police report notes there was no camera nearby that shows directly what happened, only surveillance video of the student when he first parked his car on George Bush Drive June 24 about 11.am and returns about 90 minutes later, KBTX reported.
A couple of people walked near the car while he was away, but each was next to the vehicle for a few seconds, the report said.
Upon returning to the car, according to the report, Martin immediately walks to the passenger side ‘but does not open any doors’. He is then spotted in front of the car and a ‘brief white speck’ is spotted from about mid-torso ‘moving toward his vehicle,’ the report said.
‘Another white speck is seen near his chest area,’ the report continued. ‘Martin is then seen stepping back and onto the sidewalk in front of his vehicle, most likely taking photos and videos.’
The report concludes with Martin returning to the passenger side for a ‘few moments’, before walking around the vehicle, getting in and driving away. His total time spent at the car was 1 minute and 15 seconds, police said.
Cops claimed it was ‘difficult to distinguish any characteristics of the suspect in the video’ but ‘based on video evidence, no other person had enough time to place the messages on Martin`s car other than himself.’
The incident comes as protests have erupted across the nation after the police-related slaying of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
Floyd, a black 46-year-old father of five, died while being arrested by former police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against the man’s neck for nearly nine minutes leading to his death.
The incident over the notes comes as protests have erupted over the police-related slaying of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd is pictured as former cop Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against the 46-year-old man’s neck, leading to his death
The slaying was caught by a bystander on a video that went viral and set in motion Black Lives Matter protests calling for an end to police brutality and systematic racism.
Critics of the movement have responded with their own slogan, ‘All Lives Matter’, which is quoted in one of the notes that was left on Martin’s vehicle.
At the time of the notes’ discovery, Martin spoke out and said that he had seen incidents before like the one which he alleged happened to him, but never expected he would also become a target.
‘Racism is here in college station and that problem needs to be addressed and brought up and needs to be fixed,’ Martin told KBTX a day after he claimed to find the notes on June 24.
Texas A&M President Michael K. Young the same day released a statement offering the $1,200 reward.
Texas A&M President Michael K. Young the day after released a statement offering the $1,200 reward.
‘I am utterly disappointed,’ said Martin on Thursday, after campus cops dropped the case, challenging a report of their conclusions.
‘There are several things they did not include in this report,’ Martin insisted.
However, the student said he is no longer speaking to authorities and has consulted an attorney.
He posted on social media his reasons for no longer communicating with the police.
‘I’m in a predicament where the topic of the case was let’s find out who did this to them pointing the finger at me,’ wrote Martin in a protected message on Twitter that only authorized users can read by permission, and which was obtained by KBTX.
‘In the end, I stopped talking to them because it seemed they were more interested in me getting the blame for this hate crime instead of finding the actual person who did it.’
Source: Daily Mail
