MIT to step up security after anti-Israel graffiti spray painted on building
The message was 'threatening Israelis who serve or have served in the military,' Kornbluth's email said.
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DAMPL has taken credit for the action on social media, she wrote, adding that the vandalism at MIT 'was only one of several that occurred this weekend in the Boston area and beyond.'
'The safety of our community is paramount,' Kornbluth's email said. 'We reject calls for violence, and we embrace and support all members of our community.'
Kornbluth said she has directed MIT Police Chief John DiFava to increase patrols across campus, including the Stata Center.
MIT police are working closely with outside law enforcement, including the FBI, to enhance security and investigate the incident, the email said.
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'We will press for criminal charges for those responsible,' Kornbluth wrote. 'Though we believe this was the work of outsiders, if the responsible party is found to be a member of the MIT community, we will also take disciplinary action.'
DAMPL's social media account 'makes outrageous and inaccurate accusations' about the work of Professor Rus,' Kornbluth's email said.
'I want to offer a firm defense of Professor Rus,' Kornbluth wrote.
Rus and her fellow MIT researchers 'have faced repeated and willful mischaracterizations of the content and purpose of their work,' Kornbluth's email said.
'This is open, publishable, fundamental research,' she wrote. 'Suggestions that Professor Rus's research is designed for conflict are untrue.'
Protesters are calling for an end to funding for a research project that has already expired, Kornbluth's email said.
'For the record, the grant in question had a fixed four-year timeline and ended as planned — and unrelated to any pressure — in November 2024, making these unlawful actions not only reprehensible but pointless as well," Kornbluth wrote.
'We must not, and we will not, tolerate threats of violence and targeted vandalism on our campus,' she said.
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