The University of North Texas Police Department has agreed to protect a student facing harassment and threats. An audio recording of a prior meeting revealed that police originally asked the student to come up with a safety plan.
Texas Scorecard obtained a Sunday email from University of North Texas Police Chief Ramona Washington to Randee Hallmark, the mother of UNT student Mary-Catherine Hallmark. Washington offered for Lt. Christopher Boesch to meet with Mary-Catherine Hallmark to review a “safety plan.”
Hallmark is the UNT student who opposed a classmate celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination. She said she’s been harassed and threatened since then.
Her mother, Randee Hallmark, confirmed her daughter met with the police at 10 a.m. on September 29, and that they “gave her” the protection the family had requested.
UNT Police’s posture has shifted. At roughly an hour and 16 minutes into a recording of Mary-Catherine Hallmark’s September 16 meeting with university police, a man Hallmark’s mother identified as Sgt. Cody Howell and a crisis interventionist called “Amanda” asked Hallmark to create a “safety plan” and present it to them.
“How do we move forward with you feeling safe or having a safety plan in place,” Howell asked. “I don’t know,” Mary-Catherine replied. “You got two weeks to think about it,” Howell said, with Amanda asking Mary-Catherine to see “if you can come up with anything.”
This topic came up in a series of emails between Randee Hallmark and UNT leadership on September 26. Hallmark provided copies to Texas Scorecard.
She criticized UNT for its apparent lack of action. Michael McPherson, UNT provost and vice president for academic affairs, replied that “UNT is taking the necessary steps to ensure [Mary-Catherine’s] safety,” and that UNT police asked her to “review the safety plans that were previously discussed with her.”
Randee Hallmark replied that “there has never been any safety plan discussed or put into action.” In a follow-up email that same day, she added that Mary-Catherine had repeatedly said that expelling the classmate who had celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder would make her feel safe.
Additionally, UNT police “have either not shown up or they aren’t even in close enough proximity” of Turning Point USA table events on campus, wrote Randee Hallmark.
Hallmark demanded that her daughter “have police escort to and from classes.” On September 28, Chief Washington emailed Hallmark and offered Mary-Catherine an opportunity to “review the safety plan.” Hallmark said they agreed to provide police protection.
On September 26, the Dallas Express reported about threats made against Mary-Catherine Hallmark. According to the article, Hallmark’s situation had been referred to the U.S. Department of Justice, and Attorney General Ken Paxton had called for UNT to expel those responsible.
“President [Harrison] Keller and UNT must not ignore an environment of leftist political intimidation and violence. All radicalized students making these threats must be expelled and punished,” Paxton stated to Texas Scorecard. “Our schools cannot be allowed to remain incubators of leftist extremism. My office will continue to investigate this situation and explore every legal option to stop leftist extremism.”
Randee Hallmark still has concerns. “I think [my daughter’s] safety is in a better place for at least 3 weeks,” she wrote. “But at the end of the day, UNT has not taken action in regards to the professor, the kids in class, nor the kids threatening her.”
Neither UNT, the UNT Police Department, or the U.S. Department of Justice responded to a request for comment before publication.
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