July 9 UPDATE: In the police report released to The Battalion on Thursday, Texas A&M police said their investigation into racist notes left on an A&M students car concluded “no other person had enough time to place the messages on [Isaih] Martin’s car other than himself.” Martin denied this allegation on Twitter and said that video surveillance shows another person that had enough time to place the papers on the vehicle. The surveillance video of this incident that was included in The Battalion’s open record request has not been released at this time, and an update will be released when the surveillance video is made available.
Additionally, according to the report, Texas A&M Police contacted the District and County Attorney’s Office and were told by both that the incident “fell under the 1st Amendment free speech protection and that no crime had occurred.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as we receive additional information.
July 7 UPDATE: Almost two weeks after an investigation was launched regarding racist notes on a student’s car at the Park West Apartment complex, Texas A&M campus police have closed the case without making an arrest.
According to an article by KBTX, the campus police and the county attorney concluded that no offense was committed and they will take no further action.
“The University Police approached the county attorney with charges,” Lt. Bobby Richardson said. “In this particular case and at the advice of the county attorney, there was no offense. The case is closed and no arrest was made.”
The owner of the car, poultry science senior Isaih Martin, said he recently stopped talking to the campus police. When asked to elaborate on the reason for this, Martin declined to comment.
“I have no idea who it could have been and I stopped communicating with the cops,” Martin said. “I wish they found who did this so they could be held accountable.”
The notes left on the car included the statements “All lives matter,” the N-word and “You don’t belong here.” The day after the racist notes were found, President Michael K. Young announced a $1,200 reward for any relevant information concerning the event. A spokesperson for the university said this reward was not claimed.
The Battalion has filed an open records request for the findings of the police report and the surveillance video.
