Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick still is determining whether there is enough evidence to press charges against a CMU student for hanging nooses inside a classroom two months ago.

“Certain potential evidence is being evaluated by one of the investigative agencies,” Burdick said. “I am sure they are moving ahead with it as quickly as they can.”

Burdick still is looking over the police report, but he said he cannot go into specifics about what is left to review.

“I have no control over this, except that it is my judgment that thoroughness is more important than expediency,” Burdick said.

On Nov. 12, a CMU staff member reported to campus police that a student found four hangman nooses dangling from the ceiling inside Room 228 of the Industrial Engineering and Technology Building.

Less than one week later, a male CMU student contacted campus police and admitted to hanging the nooses inside the classroom.

After CMU Police investigated the case, the department forwarded the police report over to Burdick’s office.

But after nearly two months of waiting for a decision to be made, Detroit senior Kierre Majors is growing impatient.

“I just think that we’ve waited long enough,” said Majors, president of Students Against Discrimination at CMU. “There’s been ample time to do something that seems so simple to us. We don’t understand the internal procedures, but I believe all the facts were there.”

Ashley N. Smith, president of the CMU NAACP chapter, shares the same feelings with Majors.

“I do feel that it is taking too long and justice still has not been served,” said Smith, a Pontiac senior.

It has yet to be determined whether or not the student who hung the nooses can be charged with ethnic intimidation, otherwise known as a hate crime.

According to the Michigan Penal Code, a person can be found guilty of ethnic intimidation if they maliciously, and with specific intent, intimidate or harass another person because of that person’s race, color, religion, gender or national origin.

Ethnic intimidation is a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than two years, or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.

“I just think it’s time for some closure,” Majors said. “I still haven’t gotten that. I believe that the CMU community deserves that.”

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