Missouri Student Held For Race Death Threats

A 19-year-old Missouri University student has been arrested on suspicion of posting online threats about shooting black people.

Hunter M. Park was taken into custody at around 1.50am on Wednesday at a hall of residence and charged with making a terrorist threat, said University of Missouri police.

It comes after anonymous threats were directed toward African-American students at the college's Columbia campus.

The university has been convulsed by student protests at the handling of race complaints that led to Monday's resignations of its president and the Columbia campus' chancellor.

"I'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see," read one post on the anonymous message app Yik Yak on Tuesday.

"Some of you are alright," began another post. "Don’t go to campus tomorrow."

Park was arrested at a residence hall in Rolla, Missouri, nearly 100 miles away from the Columbia campus.

He is a computer science undergraduate at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, based in Rolla.

The college says no weapons were found.

He is in custody on a $4,500 (£3,000) bail bond.

The college posted an alert on Wednesday morning: "University of Missouri Police have apprehended the suspect who posted threats to campus on YikYak and other social media."

Missouri University of Science and Technology Chancellor Cheryl Schrader said in a statement: "Threats of violence of any kind are not tolerated."

There were fewer people walking around the Columbia campus on Wednesday morning despite the arrest.

Extra police officers were posted on campus to ensure security, but classes were operating on a regular schedule, authorities said.

With tensions running high, the head of the students' association, apologised on Facebook for spreading unsubstantiated rumours that the Ku Klux Klan had been spotted on campus

A media professor at the university has quit after she tried to stop a student journalist from covering the campus demonstrations.

Another professor at the college has offered his resignation after telling students to attend class despite fears over the violence threats.

Dale Brigham's warning to students that they would miss an exam if they did not show up had sparked an angry response.

The events at Missouri University have inspired protests against alleged soft handling of racial issues at other colleges, including Yale.

The Ivy League university has been in focus since a fraternity reportedly turned away black guests at a Halloween party.