Two individuals were confirmed to be the culprits behind stealing more than 1,000 copies of The Plainsman from multiple locations on campus Aug. 28.
Colson Smith, SGA executive vice president of programs, and Kohl Weir, SGA senator at large, admitted to Student Conduct they stole the papers from the Student Center, Lowder Hall, Shelby Center, Foy Hall and Broun Hall.
Logan Powell, SGA president, as well as Smith and Weir, said the theft was an individual act and not committed as an organization.
As stated in their apology letters, Smith and Weir said they stole the papers because they were upset by the editorial "SGA puts the brakes on security."
"That morning, I was particularly disappointed in an article that minimized the work of one my good friends seemingly without regard to the months of thought and effort he had invested on behalf of Auburn students," Smith said in his letter. "In the subsequent decision, I neglected to put myself in the shoes of your editors and staff that work so hard to produce the paper for students to enjoy."
Smith declined to comment further.
Weir said he also stole the papers as a reaction to the editorial.
"I was emotionally upset about an article that was written about the work of one of my close friends," Weir said. "I felt that, at the time, that was the best thing I could do so that no one read it. That was emotional and impulsive. It wasn't something that I felt was the right move looking back."
Weir said he realized he made a mistake two hours after he took the papers.
"I probably could have approached this in a different way," Weir said. "I didn't really know what I was thinking. I thought, 'I'm just going to take these and put them back after my classes and no one will read them.'"
BREAKING: 800 newspapers stolen from Student Center
http://t.co/dyILixP8vq #breaking pic.twitter.com/KVEA5RwAwL
— The Auburn Plainsman (@TheAUPlainsman) August 28, 2014
The Plainsman
The Plainsman
The Plainsman
Read their apology letters and an editorial by Editor-in-Chief Becky Hardy
Editorial: Are they leading by example?http://t.co/DjDqMalbPR @becky__hardy @charkelly15 pic.twitter.com/52EdzVZ649
— The Auburn Plainsman (@TheAUPlainsman) October 23, 2014
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