AMHERST – Only three days after numerous printers and fax machines at the University of Massachusetts received anti-Semitic fliers, allegedly from a neo-Nazi group, at least two campus offices got additional hate-filled messages, targeting minority populations, in the same manner.
One of the fliers was received shortly after noon Sunday at WMUA, the student-run radio station in the Campus Center. According to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, the campus newspaper, the fliers seek to incite hatred against people of color and the LGBT community.
The second round of hate-filled fliers arrived on campus despite condemnation last week by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and an investigation by both UMass Police and the Information Technology department.
In a statement sent by email by UMass spokesman Edward Blaguszewski, federal agents are being asked to assist in identifying and prosecuting the hackers.
In addition, a crackdown on outsiders being able to access network-connected fax machines and printers is underway.
“The university condemns such cowardly and hateful acts,” Blaguszewski said. “Information Technology officials at UMass say they have now fully blocked the specific printing method that was exploited to distribute the flyers from outside the campus computing network.”
The initial fliers were part of an estimated 20,000 sent to network-connected printers and fax machines on various college and university campuses nationwide. Locally, in addition to UMass, the offending fliers were received at Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges.
The director of the New England office of the Anti-Defamation League said a white power group apparently hacked into school printers.
The fliers read “join us in the struggle for global white supremacy” and included a website, swastikas and disparaging and anti-Semitic remarks.
It is uncertain if other campuses also received the second set of fliers.
Subbaswamy issued a statement following the first incident that the fliers violated the values at UMass.
“This despicable incident reminds us that we must not be complacent as we continue to strive for a society that embraces diversity, inclusion and equity: a society where everyone feels safe and welcome,” Subbaswamy said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
