Swastikas carved into wall at WSU residence hall

Just days after the March Against White Supremacy was held at Martin Stadium at Washington State University campus, four swastikas were found carved into the walls of a residence hall on the Pullman campus.

At approximately 10 p.m. Monday, a resident assistant reported to police that the swastikas had been carved into two different stairwell hallways and on a wall in the basement of the Stimson Residents Hall. Some two hours later, at roughly midnight, staff found in the hall's basement another carving, this one with the word "bomb" etched into a wall and accompanied with another carving of a clock with its arms pointing to 1 a.m.

Police evacuated the building. Assistant Chief of WSU Police Steve Hanson said officers searched the common areas but did not find any explosive materials in the building. Staff and students were allowed to return to their rooms just after 2 a.m. Tuesday.

Shawn Scholey, 18, missed all of the commotion. He said he returned home late Monday night and found his whole building empty.

"I saw like five cops talking to two guys," he said, but he assumed they were just getting in trouble for smoking marijuana in their dorm room.

Scholey said he was surprised to learn of the bomb threat, and he did not see the swastikas before they were painted over early Tuesday morning.

Saturday's march was at least partly in response to the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally held in Charlottesville, Va. The rally was attended by the president of WSU's College Republicans, James Allsup. Allsup has since resigned from his leadership position.

WSU junior Lashae Daniels, who organized the march on campus, said she felt scared when she heard about the vandalism.

“It may have been a joke to some, but to me this was a direct threat to marginalized students,” she said.

Daniels said white supremacists “feel intimidated” by those marginalized students and know “we are serious about policy changes.”

WSU President Kirk Schulz addressed issues of racism Monday, and said he has had a number of conversations about the problems on campus and expects to have many more.

"We're working extremely hard at WSU to improve," he said. "It takes time to change our culture."

Hanson said the investigation into who left the carvings is still ongoing, and at this time they have not identified any subjects. Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to contact WSU police.

Katie Short can be reached at (208) 883-4633, or by email to kshort@dnews.com.