It could take a few more weeks to determine whether or not there is enough evidence to file criminal charges against a student who hung four nooses inside a classroom last month.

Isabella County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Burdick requested further investigation by Central Michigan University Police before going forward with the case, which he said is common practice.

“Certain information may be obtained quickly, however, … in the context of this investigation, some may take a few weeks to secure,” Burdick wrote in a press release.

Before deciding to issue criminal charges, he said he must prove “there is clear evidence that an accused, with malicious and specific intent, did damage, destroy or deface property or had physical contact with another person.”

Because the case remains under investigation, both Burdick and CMU Police Chief Stan Dinius declined to release the police report or the name of the suspect.

A hate crime, as defined by the FBI, is a criminal offense committed against a person, property or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity.

An individual found guilty of committing a hate crime in Michigan can face up to two years in prison, and/or pay a $5,000 fine, according to the Michigan Penal Code.

Michigan accounted for the third-highest number of hate crimes in the United States last year, according to an FBI report.

The report said 653 hate crimes occurred in 2006 within state borders.

“The fact that this kind of blatant racism still exists in 21st century America is a sad statement on how far we still have to go to secure equal footing for all of our citizens,” said Brenda Clack, chair of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus.

California and New Jersey were the only states to exceed Michigan in the amount of hate crimes in 2006.

But while the number of hate crimes in the state are increasing, police say hate crimes are a rarity in this area.

CMU Police have not recorded any hate crimes since 2004, according to the annual crime statistics. Officers categorize hate crimes as dealing with either race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability or ethnicity.

Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski said his department has recorded one incident involving ethnic intimidation since 2005, when he joined the department.

“We’ve had very, very few since I started here,” Mioduszewski said.

According to the FBI report, 73 percent of Michigan’s hate crimes in 2006 were motivated by race. Another 11 percent of hate crimes were motivated by religion.

National statistics show more than 53 percent of hate crimes are motivated by race.

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