MADISON, Wis. – Officials with the University of Wisconsin at Madison are facing backlash from students and staff after university police arrested a student for anti-racist graffiti around campus.

University police spent about six months searching for the person responsible for spray painting anti-racist remarks on school buildings and other areas of campus, and they arrested senior Denzel McDonald during his Afro-American Studies class last Thursday, Inside Higher Ed reports.

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The graffiti caused about $4,000 in damages, police allege, and included messages like “Racizm in the air, don’t breathe,” “White supremacy is a disease” and “f*** the police.” The missives were signed by “God,” according to the news site.

Johanna Almiron, professor of McDonald’s Afro-American Studies class, penned a letter to UW Madison Chancellor Rebecca Black that admonished the arrest, defended the student’s actions, and called for “accountability” from the school’s administration.

According to the letter, which was co-signed by about 700 students and faculty:

On April 14, 2016 during UW Madison Professor, Dr. Johanna F. Almiron’s Afro-American Studies Class, Black Visual Culture, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department ambushed the classroom, and removed a young black male student from the class. Upon confrontation, the student agreed to leave his seat and subsequently was detained and arrested outside of the classroom and taken to the Dane County Jail, where supporters later posted his bail. The student has been accused of 11 counts of vandalism for putting graffiti on buildings that directly confronts the racism faced by students like him on campus. He was also charged with one count of disorderly conduct.

We denounce UWPD’s deplorable actions and ask for immediate accountability from campus administration, particularly Chancellor Rebecca Blank. We also ask that regardless of the outcome of the charges against him that the student be given immunity from expulsion for his actions and be allowed to graduate on time this May.

The professor also quoted herself in the letter, which was also posted as a MoveOn.org petition.

“The university is more interested in protecting the symbols of US as a progressive institution like their buildings and Bucky (the mascot) rather than the students who are actually fighting for social change, and apparently with their lives,” Almiron said.

“The way UWPD officers entered my class was very aggressive with bullet proof vests and guns visible. I cannot believe they humiliated and terrified my students. The fact that our classrooms are not respected as spaces of learning is absolutely appalling.”

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Communication Arts professor Karma Chavez also contributed comments to the letter.

“Perhaps because the class deals with ethnic studies content and social justice issues, UWPD did not consider Dr. Almiron’s classroom worthy of its respect,” Chavez said. “UWPD did not recognize Dr. Almiron’s authority in the classroom, nor did they even acknowledge her as the professor when she tried to intervene. This is The Real UW.”

University officials released a video of McDonald’s arrest that showed officers were polite and courteous to both the student and the professor during the process.

Regardless, last Friday “Susan Riseling, the university’s police chief, released a statement apologizing for the officers’ behavior” for arresting McDonald during class and explained that university police had attempted to contact the student for weeks, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Chancellor Blank also responded to the letter, stating the classroom arrest was inappropriate, The Daily Cardinal reports. Black also seemingly defended the need to hold students accountable for criminal activities.

“Classrooms should be welcoming spaces dedicated to learning and instruction. There are practices in place at UWPD regarding when it is appropriate to enter a classroom to conduct police business. Unfortunately, in this instance these practices were not followed, and I understand why faculty, staff and students are upset.  I was upset too when I learned about this incident,” Blank wrote in a statement Friday.

“We will be working with the UWPD on an immediate review of these practices to ensure that classrooms are preserved as a productive space for learning and educational inquiry.  But I do not want this incident to stain the reputation of the UWPD, which has worked effectively on this campus for many years. And it must also be acknowledged that the student’s alleged actions involved criminal activity.”

Blank also outlined the process McDonald now faces to determine what if any disciplinary action he will face as a result of the alleged vandalism.