Illinois student arrested for hate crime after allegedly hanging noose in elevator

A University of Illinois student was arrested on felony hate crime charges Monday after allegedly hanging a noose in an on-campus elevator.

The University of Illinois Police Department arrested Andrew M. Smith, 19, on Monday evening “after an interview with police at his residence hall,” the school said in a Tuesday statement.

Smith was arrested on misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges in addition to the hate crime charges.

{mosads}Residence hall staff at Allen Hall, a university housing building at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, found a “rope tied into a noose hanging inside an elevator in a public area of the building” at about 1 a.m. Sunday, the university said.

Smith was later identified as the offender by campus law enforcement.

“Our mission at the University Police Department is to maintain a safe and secure environment where our campus community members feel supported and successful,” Executive Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Craig Stone said in the school’s statement.

“We do not tolerate incidents that are perceived by others to be a threat to their safety, and we will always respond quickly to identify offenders and hold them accountable for those actions,” he continued.

The school said university officials “communicated with residents and campus community members about the available resources” for those seeking support after the incident.