Black worker facing charges for smashing slavery window at Yale
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Yale University has asked the state not to pursue criminal charges against a former worker who destroyed a stained-glass window depicting slaves in a cotton field.
Corey Menafee, who is black, told reporters outside New Haven Superior Court on Tuesday that he probably shouldn't have broken the window last month, but he found the image disturbing.
The window was inside Calhoun College, named for former Vice President John C. Calhoun, an ardent defender of slavery during the 19th century. The college's name has been the subject of protests by students who want it changed. Yale has already said it planned to remove several images related to Calhoun and slavery from school grounds.
The 38-year-old was in court Tuesday facing a felony charge of criminal mischief and a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge.
The New Haven Independent reports Menafee was a dishwasher, and that he used a broom handle to smash the window, saying he was tired of looking at the "racist, very degrading" image.
"It's 2016, I shouldn't have to come to work and see things like that," Menafee said.
Yale says Menafee resigned. It says it already planned to remove the window.
The Yale Daily News reports Menafee has an undergraduate degree in mass communications, and two children.