Death threats and racially charged negative comments issued to a few Facebook users at Nicholls State University in Louisiana are reported to have originated from an as yet unidentified Poplarville man.

The threats were reported to have been sent from an African American 19 year-old male from Poplarville to at least three African American students at Nicholls State.

“The posts promised violent consequences in response to the election of Barack Obama to the presidency,” according to WDSU television’s Web site http://www.wdsu.com/news/17947582/detail.html#-. The Louisiana television news Web site states that both the victims and the suspect are of African American ancestry.

A Nicholls State University Web site announcement states that the FBI Eastern District is conducting an investigation and has identified a 19 year-old male Poplarville resident as the responsible party, according to http://emergency.nicholls.edu/2008/11/10/individual-responsible-for-threatening-e-mails-identified-investigation-continues/

FBI Public Information Officer with the New Orleans FBI office, Special Agent Sheila Thorn, said since the investigation is a federal matter and ongoing details are unavailable. Thorn did say that no charges have been pressed at this time and that she could neither refute nor confirm the claim by the Nicholls State University Web site that the man responsible is from Poplarville.

Once information is available or charges have been pressed more information will be released, Thorn said.

Other Nicholls State University Web site posts state that the e-mails were received by at least three of their students on Nov. 5, and were later deemed to be of “no credible threat to the University or students”, according to, http://emergency.nicholls.edu/2008/11/06/university-response-facebook-e-mails/ and http://emergency.nicholls.edu/2008/11/07/resolution-of-facebook-e-mail-situation/ respectively.