On Friday, Thurston County Communications released the threatening phone called that led to the closure of Evergreen State College.

In the recording, the caller says he is on the way to the school and threatens to “execute as many people as I can.”

He referred to area as a “communist, scumbag town.”

Thurston County Communications   ►

Racial tensions have been brewing at the university since last month after a biology instructor criticized proposal for white students to stay away from campus for a "Day of Absence." The idea reversed an annual tradition at the college wherein some students of color take the day off to talk about issues of identity.

Here's more from Ana Sofia:

In a now widely-publicized e-mail response… Evergreen biology instructor Bret Weinstein vocalized his opposition to the new "Day of Absence" event, which he described as "a show of force and an act of oppression in and of itself” for asking white students, faculty, and staff to "go away." Weinstein also stated that he would be on campus during the event, called on the Evergreen community "to put phenotype aside and reject this new formulation," and offered to host “a discussion of race on campus through a scientific/evolutionary lens.”

Some students of color perceived Weinstein's comments as ignorant and bigoted and organized protests, calling for his firing.

The national media caught wind of the campus tension after a video surfaced of a group of students confronting Weinstein about his remarks, shouting and drowning out the professor. "Hey hey, ho ho, Bret Weinstein has got to go," the students chant at one point.