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WNIJ's summary of news items around our state.

Racial Tensions High At U Of I, SIU

University of Illinois police say two more large swastikas have been discovered drawn in campus buildings.

Police say the new swastikas were found by a campus employee on Sunday in an elevator and a wall in the Armory indoor track and field center.

Three other similar swastikas were found in campus buildings on Thursday. The 2-foot-tall symbols were drawn with markers.

Police spokesman Patrick Wade said Monday that like in the earlier incident, investigators have made no arrests and do not yet have any suspects.

Wade said that in both cases investigators do not know enough to consider the appearance of the symbols anything more than vandalism.

Meanwhile, several hundred Southern Illinois University protesters have rallied against student debt and racism following recent incidents including an anonymous video calling for violence against black students.

The Monday march in Carbondale was conceived as a one-day strike to call attention to economic issues. The protest broadened after the video's online release via YouTube drew condemnation from university leaders one week ago.

YouTube later removed it for violating the company's policies on hate speech.

University and Carbondale police reported no arrests by Monday afternoon as participants chanted in a courtyard in the center of campus.

Several speakers invoked the slogans and demands used at the University of Missouri, where protests last year led to the resignation of the university system president and the flagship campus' chancellor.

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