University President Draws Audible Gasps From Students, Faculty When He Reveals Identity of Suspect Behind Racist Threats

Kean University President Dawood Farahi drew audible gasps from faculty and students on Tuesday when he informed them that the suspect who recently made “abhorrent” threats against black students was a black former student and “active participant” in an on-campus rally on Nov. 17.

"We are saddened to learn that the person allegedly responsible was an active participant in the rally that took place on campus on Tuesday, Nov. 17 and is a former student of Kean," Farahi said to gasps.

Police say 24-year-old Kayla-Simone McKelvey, who is black, left the Nov. 17 demonstration on Kean University’s campus and created an anonymous Twitter account to post a threat against black students.

“I will shoot any black person I see at Kean University,” she allegedly wrote in one tweet.

In another she allegedly stated, "the cops won't save you....you're black."

A short time later, McKelvey returned to the rally and began to circulate details about the fake threat, according to police.

McKelvey, a former president of the Pan-African Student Union, has been charged with third-degree creating a public false alarm, The Star-Ledger reports.

Screengrab via NBC New York

In his address to students and faculty, Farahi said “no cause or issue gives anyone the right to threaten the safety of others" and asserted the "horrible tweets tried to tear us apart and tarnish our reputation, but they have failed."

However, some seemed undeterred to learn that the racist threats were made by a black former student actively involved in on-campus protests.

James Conyers, director of the African Studies Department, reportedly argued it “does not matter that it was a black person who did this — this was all in the context of racism.”

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