A Madison man has been formally charged by the University of Wisconsin Police Department following an incident in Mosse Humanities last fall where he is accused of racial harassment and offensive conduct.
Lukas Nowak, a 20-year-old Madison resident, was charged Monday with one count of terrorist threats, one count of disorderly conduct with use of a dangerous weapon and two counts of disorderly conduct following an investigation conducted by UWPD, Madison Police Department and the FBI. All charges were enhanced in penalty by Wisconsin’s hate crime statute.
Nowak, who has no affiliation with UW-Madison, has been banned from campus as a condition of his bail.
On Nov. 28, three men entered multiple rooms of the building and harassed students of the multicultural Sigma Psi Zeta sorority, threatening Arab and Asian members with racial epithets and gun violence. A sorority member reported physical intimidation and spitting by the men. According to UWPD, the other suspects were also not affiliated with UW-Madison.
Nowak, who UWPD named their “primary suspect” in the incident, was also involved in several incidents that took place Nov. 28, where he allegedly threatened multiple Asian residents of the Domain apartment complex and was armed with an AR-15.
Sreejita Patra is a senior staff writer and the former summer ad sales manager for The Daily Cardinal. She has written for breaking news, campus news and arts and has done extensive reporting on the 2024 presidential race. She also covered the Oregon Village Board for the Oregon Observer.