Why Ames police say they can't investigate this racist Wi-Fi address near Iowa State campus

Lee Rood | The Des Moines Register

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In an area not far from Iowa State University, a racist Wi-Fi network address pops up automatically on cell phones and computers. Its name: “Hang that N-----!”

When a 24-year-old from Los Angeles visiting friends in Ames this month saw those words, she called campus police and the Ames Police Department to complain.

People living along Welch Avenue, near Campustown, or in the Friley Residence Hall off of Lincoln Way, see the network name every time they are trying to connect to Wi-Fi, she complained.

Turns out someone else had complained to campus police, too.

But Ames police told her they could do nothing about the Wi-Fi address because freedom of expression is protected under the First Amendment.

"Unfortunately, it’s not illegal to be a giant a--hole,” Ames police Cmdr. Geoff Huff said.

The woman turned to Reader's Watchdog: If hate speech is protected under the U.S. Constitution, does the public have the right to know who’s saying it?

The question comes as Iowa State has wrestled with racist activity, and after many students have voiced the belief that the campus is unwelcoming.

This spring, a campus climate survey of ISU students found about a third of students had seriously considered leaving the Ames institution, mostly because they felt like they didn’t belong.

More than 1,000 students who responded said they’d been harassed because of their race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, political views or because of a disability. That harassment had prompted them to want to leave.

Last year, black student leaders and ISU linebacker Willie Harvey spoke out on social media after a student posted on Twitter a picture of three ISU students standing by the Henry M. Black Engineering Building with a caption reading “n------ only.”

In 2016, university officials also had to remove posters scattered around campus reading: “In 1950, America was 90 percent white. It is now only 60 percent white. Will you become a minority in your own country?” and “White students you are not alone. Be proud of your heritage.”

Why the First Amendment protects hate speech

There is no hate speech exception to the First Amendment, as was underscored by the U.S. Supreme Court in an opinion last summer.

In Matal v. Tam, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “A law that can be directed against speech found offensive to some portion of the public can be turned against minority and dissenting views to the detriment of all. The First Amendment does not entrust that power to the government’s benevolence. Instead, our reliance must be on the substantial safeguards of free and open discussion in a democratic society.”

Commander Huff said it's unfortunate someone would choose to use that language so close to ISU's campus. But police have no options to act, he said.

"Obviously, they don’t care who they are offending. … We would have to get a subpoena or search warrant, and we can’t legally do that because there isn’t any reason to."

Later, Huff added: "It’s sad that, in this day and age, someone is doing that. It's unfortunate. Hopefully, the person realizes the hurt they are causing and changes that name. I’m sure there are lots of people who have seen it.”

Mark Stringer, executive director of the ACLU of Iowa, concurred with Huff.

“Government, including police, can’t dictate what people may or may not name their Wi-Fi networks — even when those names are deeply offensive," he said in a statement. "It’s clearly a free speech issue.

"If there is no suspicion that a crime has been committed, it would be unreasonable for police to hunt down the person who set up the Wi-Fi network for the express purpose of identifying that person to another member of the public.”

Racist Wi-Fi: Not just in Ames

Across the country, people have used witty, political and offensive Wi-Fi network names for years.

In at least one other locale Watchdog could find, police did look into a racist Wi-Fi address as a possible bias crime. In Teaneck, N.J., police began an investigation in 2012 after one popped up in a local rec center.

It's unclear from media reports what happened with that case, however.

Last fall, the FBI tracked who was using a network at a specific Wi-Fi address to arrest a man who threatened on internet message boards to killed black students at Howard University. But that involved a threat.

Discriminatory and harassing behavior is prohibited under Iowa State University's student code of conduct. But not knowing the identity of the address-holder precluded the university from taking action last year.

ISU police officials say they tried to trace where the signal was coming from, but they could not track it to a specific residence.

Deputy Chief Carrie Jacobs said another complaint in February last year prompted investigators to work with campus IT staff.

"We wanted to make sure it wasn't coming from ISU," she said.

The address was traced off campus, to the 100 block of Welch Avenue, south of Lincoln Way. But police were unable to determine whether a student was involved.

Anyone can purchase a Wi-Fi locator device designed to scan radio frequencies and detect nearby wireless access points. The devices typically are used to predict the strength of a connection.

"Unfortunately, nowadays you can mask where an address is coming from," Jacobs said.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549, on Twitter @leerood, or at facebook.com/readerswatchdog.