Two students committed a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents at Oberlin College to provoke a reaction, according to police in Oberlin, Ohio.

According to a police report released late last week, one of the students said he meant the acts as a “joke,” as well as to show how students and college staff overreacted to earlier racist and anti-Semitic fliers, with which he denied involvement.

The student was detained on Feb. 27 after being seen posting anti-Islamic fliers in a school building. He said he posted the fliers to show how people had overreacted to similar fliers posted earlier in the year.

In early May, Oberlin cancelled classes after someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan–like hood and robe was seen walking on campus. The cancellation also came after swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were discovered on the campus.

Oberlin City Prosecutor Frank Carlson, in deciding not to charge the students, said they broke no laws, according to the local Chronicle-Telegram. The students have been removed from campus and are being tried in the campus judicial system, according to the newspaper. — jta