Pro-ISIS Messages Painted on US School Rock

Students at Youngstown State University in Ohio woke up Monday to find pro-ISIS messages painted on a campus rock, WPXI reports. Photos of the three screeds soon made it online: "France deserves destruction," "YSU supports ISIS," and "We are coming for you." Students quickly spray-painted the rock white and covered it with patriotic and peace-related messages, but the impact was still felt on campus. "It definitely sent, like, a terror around, and then there was a shooting threat last week, so it's just like one after the other," says student David Ottney. Another student tweeted, "Whoever did this to the rock needs [to be] expelled. ISIS is not some joke. Terrorism is not a joke."

Mohamed Mishmish, an international student, talked about his writing of a peace message on the rock: "I came here today to write 'peace' in Arabic to show that if there should be anything defaced in Arabic on this rock, it should be peace-condoning and not in the name of terrorism," he says. According to the school's Facebook Page, police are investigating, the FBI has been contacted, and "there is no credible threat to the campus at this time." Classes were still in session today, reports WFMJ. The rock has been used for decades as a place to write messages about campus organizations and events. (More Ohio stories.)