| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Culture Wars |
| Columbia reverses course, agrees to give cops noose video |
| 2007-10-12 |
| After stonewalling cops for more than 24 hours, Columbia University has agreed to hand over security tapes that could help ID the person who left a hangman's noose on a black professor's office door. The Ivy League school initially told cops they needed a subpoena to get a look at security tapes from Teachers College and the names of students in Professor Madonna Constantine's classes. Cops then spent hours putting together the legal paperwork and getting a judge to sign off on the court order around midnight last night, they said. They were about to serve the subpoena on Columbia when the university flip-flopped - after getting media inquiries - and agreed to hand over 56 hours of tape. "It's unfortunate because it adds a time-consuming step to the investigation," Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said of Columbia's refusal to assist the investigation voluntarily. Columbia spokeswoman Diane Dobry refused to answer questions about the delay, issuing a statement that said only: "We are giving the tapes to the police." Investigators have no suspects. They have questioned a number of Columbia staffers including a professor who was sued for defamation by Constantine. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #12 Edits or alterations would be Obstruction of Justice and land somebody's heine in el calabozo. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-10-12 11:11 |
| #11 I hope the police have the stones to sing loudly if there is any evidence that suggests the tapes have been edited or altered. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2007-10-12 10:57 |
| #10 Columbia has reason to worry. There might be other incriminating things on the 56 hours of tape besides the noose incident. Things such as tenured professors using obscenties, professors making fun of the other faculty, etc. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-10-12 09:14 |
| #9 I think you are prolly right Vader, but without racism there can't be victims, hate crimes, affirmative action, you know, the good stuff. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-10-12 08:42 |
| #8 That is the first thing I thought of. Erase the evidence of some non-white tool doing to to stir the pot. While racism is still alive, here is a news flash columbia. Most of us don't give a flying fuck what a person's skin color is. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-10-12 07:57 |
| #7 Could it have been a non-white professor or student? Is there a trend developing with regard to shi* stirring? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-10-12 07:14 |
| #6 Whether it's a hoax or not, whoever put the noose there needs to get hammered. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-10-12 06:47 |
| #5 there's no such thing as a fake hate crime |
| Posted by: Mike Nifong 2007-10-12 06:23 |
| #4 A fake hate crime? Like the poster horse-hockey at GWU the other day? Can they do that? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-10-12 06:11 |
| #3 That would be my bet too. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-10-12 06:01 |
| #2 The socialist regime at Columbia knows what is on that tape and they are afraid of it. There is only one reasonably likely explanation- a fake hate crime, the perp is the offended professor herself or one of her associates. |
| Posted by: Eohippus Slunter7044 2007-10-12 05:56 |
| #1 They had to delay until they could erase the incriminating footage. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-10-12 01:08 |