Police believe La Casa harassment to be act of discrimination

IU Police Department has increased patrols near La Casa Latino Cultural Center, 715 E. Seventh St., in response to harassment the department thinks may have been racially motivated.

Sometime between noon Wednesday and 9 a.m. Friday, a newspaper on which someone had written “criminals deport” was left on a table and magnetic letters on the refrigerator had been changed to spell “you need to leave,” IUPD Chief Keith Cash said.

“It’s believed to be some sort of harassment,” Cash said.

Because of the nature of the messages and since they were found at La Casa, Cash said IUPD is considering them to be discriminatory in nature.

The incident was reported Friday at 5:01 p.m. after the newspaper and magnets had been discovered in the center.

Eric Love, director of the Office of Diversity Education, said Latino students, staff and faculty are an influential group at the University.

“La Casa is an important part of our campus,” he said. “We will all stand together against
discrimination.”

— Michael Auslen