CCSU Student Who Reported Anti-Gay Notes Suspended
Police said the student was caught on camera and said she put the notes under her own door.
The Central Connecticut State University student who reported finding anti-gay notes beneath the door of her dorm room has been suspended from any state university campus for five years.
Police said she admitted to being responsible for the notes.
Lexi Pennell is accused by CCSU police of eight counts of tampering with physical evidence, felony charges, as well as misdemeanor charges of interfering with police, making a false statement to police, and reporting a false incident.
She was actually arrested May 2.
In March, Pennell had reported finding the notes.
On March 13, hundreds of students gathered for a rally at CCSU to show support for her and to take a stand against hate crimes.
In April, CCSU police used a surveillance camera that recorded Pennell sliding a piece of paper under her door, according to the arrest warrant. Pennell then admitted she was responsible for all of the notes, according to officials.
According to the arrest warrant application, Pennell had given a friend a letter saying she began leaving the notes because she felt her close friends were slipping away from her and she felt she was also losing her girlfriend.
In a statement, CCSU spokesman Mark McLaughlin said: "While we are confident that the perpetrator has been identified, we are nonetheless saddened by the student's actions, which are likely to bring serious consequences for her. We remain proud, however, of the campus community's response to what we believed was an act of bias, and we reaffirm now what was said then: acts of bias and hate will not be tolerated at CCSU."
Pennell, who lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, according to the arrest warrant, is free on a promise to appear in court July 26 in New Britain.
Extreme Weather
