Hate Crime Charges Dropped Against Northwestern Chapel Vandals

EVANSTON, IL - Two former Northwestern University students - one the son of the highest ranking Appeals court judge in Massachusetts - will avoid felony charges for vandalizing the campus chapel with racist and homophobic slurs after a plea deal was accepted in a Cook County court earlier this month.

Hate crime charges and other felonies against Anthony Morales, 19 and Matthew Kafker, 18 were dropped in exchange for misdemeanor guilty pleas to criminal damage and the agreement to pay thousands of dollars in fines and restitution, the Chicago Tribune has reported. Kafker is the son of Scott Kafker, chief justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

The two admitted to spray-painting racist and homophobic slurs, the word “Trump” and several images of male genitalia after breaking into Northwestern’s Alice Millar Chapel on Sheridan Road in March.

Lines were also spray-painted over photographs of Muslim students at Northwestern, according to previous reports. Several swastikas were also found. Surveillance videos captured the two inside the nondenominational church early in the morning on March 12.

In avoiding possible jail time for the original charges, Morales and Kafker instead received two years of court supervision and 150 hours of community service. Restitution repairs and court costs totaled more than $8,000.

Attorneys for the two former students told the judge their clients were “very drunk” when this occurred, according to the Tribune report.

The pair were “very drunk” when this occurred, attorneys said according to the Tribune.

"I am very sorry," Kafker said. "I apologize to the entire Northwestern community and everybody who was hurt by what I did."

The judge, Lauren Edidin, said alcohol “can be a very dangerous thing for some people. It can completely change your personality."

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