An RIT student, Avery Bird, is facing felony charges after allegedly planting a “recording device” in a residence hall’s Helen Fish B bathroom. Bird was arrested yesterday afternoon and charged with Second Degree Unlawful Surveillance, to which he pleaded not guilty. He was released on his own recognizance and is due in court next week.
RIT Public Safety discovered the recording device on Sept. 18 and launched an investigation with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. Officials believe the device was placed the night of Sept. 16, two days earlier. After searching campus, Public Safety found no additional recording devices.
Yesterday, the RIT community received an email titled “Recording Device Discovered,” explaining the incident. The email did not identify Bird or Helen Fish B.
Although the email said Bird was “removed from the RIT community,” 13WHAM reported that he was “issued a modified order of protection,” barring him from “common areas and gender neutral bathrooms” while allowing him to continue living in his dorm and attending classes.
Online Reactions
Students quickly took to the internet to discuss the situation after receiving the email.
Under a Reddit post sharing the statement, some commenters expressed surprise that the suspect was identified and is facing consequences.
“Bonus points for public safety actually involving the real authorities and not just ‘investigating internally’ and coming up with a slap on the wrist,” wrote Reddit user amalcolmation.
In a comment thread under the same post speculating about the requirements for expulsion, another user, seemingly an RIT alum, X-Aceris-X, shared their experience with Title IX.
“The Title IX conduct officer I worked with explicitly told me not to expect expulsion, even though my assaulter fully admitted via text and through his Title IX rep what he did….Glad to see they’re at least doing something about this, and that larger authorities are taking it seriously.”
These commenters believed that Bird was expelled, which may not be the case.
On Fizz, some users speculated that the cameras were planted in Sol Heumann Hall. This is false. Bird was discovered to be a member of the Sol Heumann Discord server, despite not being a resident there, which possibly contributed to the confusion. He was since removed from the server.
This article reflects accurate information at the time of publication, check our recent stories for updated information.
