NEW ORLEANS — The Tulane University Police Department has issued three warrants for arrest after a dormitory door was slightly burned in an incident that a campus group says targeted one of its members for his political views.
According to TUPD officials, three Tulane students set a plastic sign attached to a door on fire just after midnight Saturday in the Weatherhead Hall dormitories.
Warrants for aggravated arson have been issued for each of the students, two men and one woman, officials said.
TUPD officials said as the investigation continues, it is not clear what motivated the sign burning. However, the political group Young Americans for Liberty (YAL), a libertarian organization with chapters at several colleges across Louisiana, said the burning was meant to target one of their Tulane chapter members.
Pictures provided by the group show a TUPD officer examining that damage on the door of Peyton Lofton, a chapter officer in Tulane's YAL organization.
Group officials said he was recently 'doxxed,' or targeted and outed on the Internet for his political beliefs, on social media by an "anti-YAL social media account." According to the school's directory, Lofton is enrolled in Tulane's school of liberal arts.
Group members said they believe the door burning was targeted at Lofton following this outing online as a member of their organization.
Both Peyton and YAL President Cliff Maloney released statements following the incident, condemning political violence and calling for people to engage and discuss issues civilly.
Stay with the Eyewitness News on WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this developing story.
