Temple police gather info on hate e-mails

Two Temple University Campus Police officers visited Penn State yesterday to gather information about the racist e-mails that some Penn State students received last week.

Temple police joined the FBI, Penn State Police Services and Penn State Network Security Office in the investigation.

Last week, police traced the e-mails to a computer lab at Temple, but it's possible that someone just rerouted the messages through a computer there, said George Ingram, associate vice president for university relations at Temple.

"It's still not clear, as far as we know, that these messages came from Temple," Ingram said.

If police are able to find whoever sent the message, they could charge that person with harassment by communications. In addition, police would consider other charges such as ethnic intimidation, said Officer Thomas Sowerby of Penn State police. At least 68 minority students received the messages that contained racial insults and implied threats.

The people who received the messages said they came from an address called "the patriot" at a free e-mail service.

— by Daryl Lang