Man who posted racist graffiti against blacks at a university was black

ANN ARBOR, MI - A former Eastern Michigan University student owes more than $2,000 in restitution for vandalizing several campus buildings with racist messages more than a year ago.

Washtenaw County Trial Judge David Swartz ordered Eddie Curlin on Monday, May 21 to pay more than $2,000 to EMU and Capital One on three counts of malicious destruction of a building, and to serve two to five years in prison on four unrelated counts of identity theft.

Curlin, 29, had nothing to say to the court as he was sentenced.

He pleaded guilty April 23 to the three counts of malicious destruction of a building and pleaded no contest to the four counts of identity theft.

Police believe he was motivated by hopes of acting as an informant in the case, having previous criminal charges against him dropped and being allowed to return as a student to Eastern Michigan University.


Curlin attended EMU from 2014 to early 2016. He was accused of spray painting hate messages on an exterior wall of King Hall in September 2016, on the exterior wall of Ford Hall in October 2016 and in a men's restroom stall in Sherzer Hall in spring 2017.

The graffiti targeted EMU black community.

Curlin is black.

Police believe he was motivated by hopes of acting as an informant in the case, having previous criminal charges against him dropped and being allowed to return as a student to Eastern Michigan University.