Police respond to incident at Hofstra University
Police say that they responded to a call on campus just after 3 p.m. but have not released additional information.
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Police activity was reported Saturday afternoon at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
Police say that they responded to a call on campus just after 3 p.m. but had not released additional information as of Saturday night.
A Hofstra student says he found a suspicious envelope on his car Saturday.
Video shows that it was filled with a white powder and a note that said, “This is ricin all rapist will die.”
The note was addressed to the student’s fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta.
Haiden Haley, the student’s friend and vice president of the fraternity, showed up on scene as soon as he heard what happened.
“When we got there and we found out it could have been some sort of a poison, he was hugging some people because he was kind of scared,” Haley said. “We tried to bring masks, clothes and rubber gloves to just try to remove the note from his car because it was on top of it and we didn't want anything dangerous to get into his vehicle.”
Haley says police arrived with hazmat suits to test the substance and found it to be baking powder.
“He's more concerned about the organization as a whole more than himself,” Haley said about his friend. “Because that's what a lot of us think it is, more of an attack on our letters.”
Haley also says neither his friend nor anyone else in the fraternity have ever been accused of rape.
“I personally think everything's just really hot right now with the Cornell [University] situation and being on Long Island and close to New York with a lot of different people,” Haley said. “I think someone just maybe took a little too much heart to that.”
The fraternity posted a statement on Instagram Saturday evening that said, “threats and acts of violence… are completely unacceptable…. We trust that those who put our campus community at harm will be dealt with and remind community members to remain vigilant.”
Haley says the fraternity is cancelling many of their upcoming events out of caution.
