Anger over image of black man associated with white trespassers

The Ithaca Police Department released a photo of a black male in connection with trespassing incidents that described white males, and everyone is pissed.

Last Thursday, a crime alert was issued by Cornell Police regarding reported criminal trespasses on 106 West Ave, and on the 700 block of Stewart.

The female victims on West Ave described the trespasser as a “white male, approximately 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 150 pounds with shorter light colored hair and a clean shaven face.”

The resident of the trespassed apartment in the 700 block of Stewart described the trespasser as a “white male, between 5 feet 8 inches and 6 feet tall, with a medium build, darker colored hair and a clean shaven face.”

In both incidents, the trespasser was clearly a white male, according to the CUPD report.

However, Ithaca Police seems to disagree.

The Ithaca PD released a picture of a man they believed was connected with “suspicious activity in the Collegetown area,” according to the Ithaca Journal. However, the subject whose photo was captured on a security camera was, clearly, a black male.

Ithaca PD said the photo was taken around the same time as the reports from the victims, but again, the descriptions don’t match.

Although the Ithaca Police Department said they will not release information regarding the involvement of the subject in the trespassing incidents, one can’t help but wonder why a photo black man whose activity has not been confirmed was released, while no photos of either one of the white males whose activities were confirmed appeared.

CNY Central stated that the photo was released “in connection to the investigation into a series of suspicious incidents in the Collegetown area,” continuing on to explain that “police have not said this man is related to any specific case or incident.”

Keeping in mind Cornell’s immediate “crime alerts,” it isn’t known why one  was not sent out regarding the black male in the photo.

Students reacted with anger to the mix-up.

The comments on the Sun article

The Cornell Daily Sun published a piece on the trespasses, using the photo that was issued by the Ithaca PD. It garnered livid comments from readers questioning the editorial judgment behind using the image.

Black Students United released this message on their Facebook page after the article was posted:

The Sun has since released the following Editor’s Note:

“A version of this story posted to social media inappropriately juxtaposed the headline of the story ‘Consecutive Trespasses Reported Thursday’ with the picture provided by the Ithaca Police Department, which is seeking information ‘regarding suspicious activity in the Collegetown area.’

“While the story outlines the crime alerts and then goes into detail that the IPD is seeking information on this picture, these two together on Facebook without the context of the full news story provided a misleading image of events. The social media post has since been removed, and The Sun regrets this error.”