MADISON (WKOW) -- A Madison police official said his department is now investigating the alleged destruction of a recall petition at Edgewood College, days after college officials declined to contact authorities about the potential felony crime.
A student's alleged destruction of a petition of a small number of signatures to recall Governor Scott Walker also involved a tweet from the student's account to the governor, claiming responsibility for ripping up the petition.
Police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said 911 Center call notes show someone contacted police officials Monday to alert officers to the alleged November 15 crime.
Student witness Mary Platt told 27 News she was interviewed by an officer Monday. Platt told 27 News a student walked up to a signature collection station on campus, took a petition from a circulator, ripped it up and left.
Last week, Edgewood's assistant dean of students said while student witnesses were encouraged to contact police, campus officials would defer to them and not contact authorities. Edgewood's dean of students notified the campus community of the potential felony crime and campus policies on the recall effort.
The student believed responsible for destroying the petition is from DePere and has not responded to an email message from 27 News seeking comment.
But on his twitter account, a message was sent this week to Walker stating the student's campus punishment was a letter of apology. Edgewood College officials have cited federal privacy law in declining comment on any sanctions against the student.
Student witness Zach Madden said he felt a letter of apology was insufficient to address what happened.
"I agree that the college should do something, but I just don't think justice was served here."
27 News first reported on the alleged elections crime and the failure of campus officials to notify police on November 23. DeSpain says an Edgewood College official contacted him Monday about the incident.
Gov. Walker's spokesperson Cullen Werwie has yet to explain what actions were taken as a result of the initial tweet from the student's account to the governor. The spokesperson referred 27 News to the governor's campaign committee because the matter involved the recall. Campaign committee representatives have yet to respond to an email seeking comment.
In Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback's staff members flagged a critical tweet about Brownback from a high school student, which led to a meeting between the student and the school principal. Brownback later apologized for his staff's response.
