HOUGHTON, MI - Michigan Tech has defended its expulsion of a student accused of an internet threat to shoot blacks.

The university said it acted appropriately given violent episodes at campuses around the country.

Michigan Technological University has asked that a federal lawsuit filed by the now former student, Matthew Schultz, be dismissed.

Schultz, a third-year student majoring in mechanical engineering, contends that Michigan Tech ignored the fact that his post had been altered, and said the university misled the public, media and a county prosecutor.

The case originates from a Nov. 12, 2015, post that Schultz wrote on Yik Yak, a social-media app, as part of a discussion about racial threats at the University of Missouri and racial issues at Michigan Tech.

He wrote: "Gonna shoot all black people......A smile tomorrow," followed by a smiley face.

He removed the post minutes later but someone grabbed a screen shot and shared it with Michigan Tech.

After no immediate response from the university, a shortened version of the screen shot, showing only, "Gonna shoot all black people," was sent to school officials.

The school considered both versions to be threats.

"Given the horrific instances of gun violence that have occurred on university campuses across the country in recent years, the intense reaction that (Schultz's) post provoked is not surprising," the school's attorney, Michael Cavanaugh, wrote in his motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.

"Indeed, reasonable recipients of the post viewed Plaintiff's message as making two distinct statements: 'Gonna shoot all black people' and that the anonymous poster would have "A smile tomorrow' (perhaps after shooting black people today)," Cavanaugh wrote.

Within an hour of the original post, the university's Department of Public Safety and Police Services had issued a campus-wide alert. Police arrested Schultz hours later, but charges were dropped.

Schultz was kicked out of school, however.

"He said he intended for his post to convey, in a humorous way, that he was not a racist, but that others deliberately altered the post by focusing only on the words, 'Gonna shoot all black people,'" Cavanaugh wrote.

"In the end, however, it was determined that Plaintiff was responsible for the disruption that his own post caused because the post, as written, could reasonably be interpreted as conveying a threat."

The university said Schultz's internet post was a threat, not protected speech under the First Amendment.

A hearing is set for Feb. 2 in U.S. District Court in Marquette.

Schultz says the school made him the "poster boy for white hatred" to show how seriously it took racial issues.

His attorneys, Steven Pence and Nicholas Roumel, argued against dismissal of the lawsuit.

They say former student Ryan Grainger provided school officials with both the original post and the altered post. Grainger, in response to the lawsuit, said he received the posts from a close friend and said any reasonable person would have reported the information.

Schultz's attorneys say he was punished by Michigan Tech "not for his own words but as they were maliciously altered by another, so as to entirely change their meaning."

They say that only the "altered, sinister words" were released by the university until months later, when the university, acting on a Freedom of Information request, had to admit there were two separate posts. Police reports were also "significantly" altered, the attorneys said.

"In an effort to control the damage this revelation would do to its carefully crafted public image, MTU quickly claimed to the media that these two posts were equally menacing," Pence and Roumel wrote.

The school held Schultz responsible for chaos outside of his own doing, they said.

"... MTU blamed Plaintiff for a social media post that was significantly altered by Defendant Ryan Grainger - but when they realized their mistake, MTU nonetheless misled the Michigan Tech community, the media, and even the county prosecutor for their own political purposes."

A university hearing panel placed Schultz on probation after exonerating him of the most serious charges but they were re-instated - and Schultz was expelled - after he appealed, his attorney said.

"This case tells a troubling tale that even after MTU realized Plaintiff's social media post was significantly altered, they refused to back down, and perpetuated false public information for their own purposes."

The attorneys, who referenced Watergate in their pleadings, said the case "calls into mind the political saw, 'It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.'"

They said that Michigan Tech officials took immediate action in response to the altered post, and did not realize until two hours later that it had been altered.

Yik Yak Legal, responding to an emergency request to identify the source of the post, told school officials that the post had been cropped and did not provide the information.

Schultz contends the university should have concluded there was no threat. Then, the altered threat got on TV news.

"Thus MTU was faced with either a public 'Whoops, never mind,' or pressing on and perpetuating a false threat. They chose the latter course of action, much to Matthew Schultz's great detriment," his attorney said.

Police got a search warrant for the Yik Yak account. Schultz was arrested that night on felony charges. By morning, the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor, and ultimately dismissed.

Robert Bishop, director of academic and community conduct, told Schultz he was suspended pending a hearing despite the legal outcome.

Bishop said that Schultz's original "post clearly can be taken to mean a lot of different things subject to other people's interpretations."

Schultz was suspended 18 months and given conditions to comply with. When he appealed, he realized he could face additional sanctions, up to expulsion, the school said.

Dean of students Bonnie Gorman said the university would have responded to either post similarly.

"In addition, had you not made the initial post, it is unlikely that the (cropped post) would have appeared. Ultimately, your actions have hurt the integrity of the University and caused significant concerns from other students, parents, prospective students, faculty and staff."

The university's attorney said that Schultz has presented so many "unbelievable conspiracy" theories it is difficult to respond to all of them.

"Undeterred, Plaintiff delves even deeper into wild and unsubstantiated conspiracy theories by suggesting that (Michigan Tech public safety) is engaged in some type of 'Watergate' cover-up," Cavanaugh wrote.