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WEBVTT GEORGE H.W. BUSH LIVE ON AIR AND ON THE KCCI APP. STACEY: NEW AT 5:00, THE DRAKE UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO ADMITTED TO BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR A FAKE RACIST NOTE IS CHARGED. POLICE CHARGED KISSIE RAM WITH FALSE REPORTS TO A PUBLIC SAFETY ENTITY A MISDEMEANOR. THIS CHARGE IS FOR THE REPORT FILED ABOUT A NOTE FOUND ON NOVEMBER 2 DRAKE UNIVERSITY OFFICIALS BELIEVE RAM WAS ALSO BEHIND 3 OF THE OTHER NOTES BUT POLICE SAY NO CHARGES WILL BE FILED FOR THOSE. POLICE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR THE PERSON WHO WROTE THE ORIGINAL

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Des Moines police have identified a Drake University student accused of writing fake racially charged letters that were slipped under dormitory room doors.The Des Moines Police Department said Kissie Ram is charged with making false reports to a public safety entity after allegedly faking a racist letter she reported finding on Nov. 28.Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said Friday that two female students reported receiving racist notes under their door on Nov. 13 and Nov. 15 and that the same students reported receiving an additional note on Wednesday. Investigators later determined that Ram was responsible for creating the racist note she claimed to have received, and it’s likely she is responsible for the “copycat hoaxes.” Police said Ram was not booked in to jail, but was issued a misdemeanor summons. Drake University spokesperson Jarad Bernstein said the student will be subject to discipline, including possible expulsion.“We started having a little different tone of a conversation with the two victims,” Parizek said. “Unfortunately, one of them admitted that she was, in fact, responsible for the note that was written and reported to the police on (Wednesday).”Authorities continue to investigate an incident that happened Nov. 7, but they said the victim is not cooperating with officials.“I don’t think the fact that it’s bogus is going to take the wind out of the sail of the people who want to do the right thing and want to have the unity in our community,” Parizek said. Aside from the notes, officials reported that about 250 Drake phones received 75-second robocalls a few weeks ago that said African-Americans should be "expelled" to Africa. The robocalls have been linked to Idaho-based white supremacist group The Road to Power, which is the same group that sent out calls to Latinos after Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts died.“As painful as these recent events have been, they have sparked important discussions and reflection and have brought us closer together as one Drake community,” Drake University president Marty Martin said. “We all have work to do as we further our commitment to equity and inclusion, but (we) can be proud of our response, our values and our conviction."Timothy Gant, a freshman at Drake University who led the Paint It Black movement, said Friday's development is disappointing but shouldn't derail the much larger discussion about racism on and off campus."It was upsetting, definitely, but the conversations I've had with students today and in the past few weeks is that our work started the night of the first note that came out on Nov. 7," he said. "The events that took place over the last few weeks with having the rally and painting the street is going to carry us to have bigger conversations." Gant said he hopes those conversations focus on policy changes at Drake University and how to make students of color feel safer on campus."It's a sentiment here in this country," he said. "It's a sentiment here at Drake. It's a sentiment at other places, so we have to work here to change as much as we can."This is just another reason why we need to keep working and keep talking about this thing, because the second we invalidate that conversation and begin to stop talking about this, (that) is when this whole thing will start to die."Gant said he hopes the discussion ends up moving toward the question of what policy changes need to be made and what can be done at higher levels to help students of color feel safe. He said there are signs of progress."People aren't just hanging signs. People are actually going up to students of color and asking them, 'What can I do for you?' But it's that dialogue that started this, and it's that discussion that will carry this whole movement across."