Warning: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Racial tensions flared at the University of Virginia after a black student sustained head injuries while white police officers arrested him outside of a popular Irish pub early Wednesday morning.
The injuries, captured in cell phone videos and photographs from a crowd of students nearby, left the student with bloody streaks down his face, an image that quickly spread on social media. In one of the videos, obtained by The Washington Post, the student calls three officers from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control “racists” as they try to handcuff his hands behind his back.
The student, junior Martese Johnson, 20, was arrested after he was denied entry to the Trinity Irish Pub at about 12:45 a.m. The incident occurred on the sidewalk near a strip of restaurants and bars adjacent to campus called “The Corner.” ABC officials said that Johnson was charged with public intoxication and obstruction of justice but declined to detail why he was physically taken to the ground.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office issued a statement Wednesday afternoon in which he said he was calling for an investigation into the arrest.
It is not clear from the videos what happened in the moments prior to the arrest or how the student received the head wound, though one onlooker repeatedly tells police that Johnson is bleeding as they are trying to subdue him. According to a statement from the university’s Black Student Alliance, Johnson required 10 stitches.
Hundreds of students gathered on campus Wednesday night for a rally and a march to protest the police treatment of Johnson, and many stayed until about 11 p.m. Abraham Axler, a sophomore who is president-elect of the Student Council, said that Johnson spoke briefly at the rally.
News flash! This is not a racial tension. This is student tension. The UVA students, backed by the University President, are not going to let this one slip under the rug. This kid was beaten and bloodied. He was a student. supposedly his crime was being a smart ass and having a fake ID. If this treatment were meted out to every student with a fake ID, there would be no students. They would all be dead. I would be dead. I had a fake ID and I was a smart ass. (hard to believe, isn’t it?) I think every student in the world has a fake ID, don’t they?
Google the name Martese Johnson. He stands out for awards and academic honors, not thuggery. University President Teresa Sullivan has notified the governor who requested a full investigation.
The ABC agents in that area have already had their names up in lights for arresting and terrifying 3 young women who were buying soda water for a charity event. One woman landed in jail. She later sued and won. Obviously the ABC agents are just a tad over-zealous. I would say taking a kid to the ground and beating him senseless if another example of being overly zealous.
However, I am judging, which I should not do. An investigation is forthcoming and the public will know whether this student “take down” was legitimate or not. Meanwhile, Charlottesville needs to stay out of the news. It is always bad news. At any rate, this tangle with ABC agents has sparked outrage among the students and massive protests have been staged at The Corner. It’s good to see solidarity. We don’t send our kids off to college to be beaten by law enforcement.
Further reading: Message from UVA President Teresa Sullivan
I wonder if any of these ABC agents were involved in the false imprisonment of the woman who was carrying a six pack of sparkling water there in Charlottesville some months back. They seem to be very aggressive down there. Maybe it’s because it’s a university town and the frequency of under-age drinking is greater than the average jurisdiction.
I am sure it is but….that doesn’t give them the right to violate everyone’s civil rights and human rights. It sounds like it is a training ground for rookies. They need to get some people in there who are dry behind the ears.
Quite a large settlement was paid out to the sparkling water girl. rightfully so. She was terrorized, then arrested for doing what every woman from cradle to grave is taught to do when approached by a stranger. fight flight.
Meh, I remain skeptical. There are usually three appropriate responses to uniformed law enforcement officers, particularly when one is stopped in a location as public and “infamous” as The Corner.
1. Yes Officer.
2. No Officer.
3. I don’t know Officer, sir.
Having had more than my share of “interactions” with the C-Ville, University and State boys in blue, I suspect that any of those three responses would likely have dictated a different response.
While taking a smart ass approach with one of the University’s officers would likely have had a different outcome, that same approach applied to the notoriously ill-humored city and state officers in the Hook never ends well, regardless one’s gender, race, creed or social standing. BTW, the Albemarle lockup is not well-heated so I suspect his discomfort only increased overnight.
Did anyone give the arresting cops breathalyzer tests?
Do we send our kids off to college to get fake ID’s, lie about their age, violate the law, and get drunk? Sounds like it.
The kid didn’t get beaten senseless by the ABC cops. He scraped his forehead on the pavement during the takedown to put cuffs on him. So says a witness who was questioning the need for the takedown. I saw a full-face photo of the kid at the rally. No visible hurt or swelling on the face. Just a cut on the upper forehead.
@Mom
I never had such encounters. My father would have flailed me after boiling me alive. I did have fake IDS though. He says he didn’t.
I don’t think you should have to kiss someone’s ass to not have your face dragged across the pavement. University cops aren’t going to do that. Longo runs a professional organization so City cops aren’t going to do that either. I don’t think Albemarle cops were involved. Just the ABC guys who we all know are cowboys, especially around Charlottesville.
Plus they don’t know the difference in club soda and beer.
@Wolve
According to Johnson and witnesses, he did not have a fake ID. He gave the wrong zip code. His mother had moved.
You know, I don’t care if they used a billy club on his head or his head on the pavement, I call that “getting beaten senseless.” If you did that to your 17 year old you would be looking at jail time.
I thought the kid looked pretty battered at that rally. He shouldn’t have looked any way at all. He shouldn’t have been injured.
This story has gone national. The ABC behavior has hurt the image of the University (even more so than had already been done.) and it has hurt the image of the University police department. Longo has a very professional reputation.
Moon — Minor scrapes and injuries happen frequently in a take down. The take down is used when someone resists being cuffed. It’s not being beaten senseless. It is a possible consequence of resisting arrest. And that witness I cited was very angry that the cops took the kid down at all. So, if there was a beating, I posit that the witness (and others) would have jumped on it big time. Our personal definitions of violence don’t count. Sorry.
The witness said that a cop had the kid by an arm to bring him over to talk with other cops. The kid pulled his arm away and told the cop to leave him alone or let him go or some such thing. You just don’t do that when cops are asking you questions unless you want to be cuffed and invited down to the station house for a chat.
Also it sounds like the very first scene in that incident may have been the bar bouncer refusing to let the kid in. If the kid did not have a fake ID, was he already drunk and disorderly or did the bouncer know him to be underage? Was the kid giving the bouncer a loud ration of crap when the cop decided to come over? I would guess probably.
Sounds like many people have this story all wrong. The ID was not fake. Normally (on non St. Patrick’s Day) they do allow people under 21 entry for food. He was just trying to get in. And IMHO, the ABC officers overreacted.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/pub-owner-descibes-cordial-encounter-with-uva-student-before-abc/article_659908f3-a614-5b25-b249-2d81fc4ec270.html
wolve – if a P.O. grabs my arm for no reason, I am going to pull away (and have in the past). No reason for the officer to touch a person to ‘just talk to them’.
@Pat.Herve
Well, if the pub co-owner’s description is to be believed, the reason for the subsequent encounter with the ABC cops totally eludes me. The first reports sounded like a confrontation between the kid and a bouncer, and I thought maybe the cop had grabbed the kid’s arm to get him away from that confrontation and lead him over to where other cops were standing. I’ve never seen an ABC cop in action, so I don’t know their street habits with the youngsters. Thanks for the link.
Remember the girls buying club soda at Harris Teeters in C-ville? ABC agents pulled a gun on the girl who jumped in her car and tried to get away. She thought she was being confronted by abductors. She also won $200,000. It sounds like Gov. McAuliffe is on the right track. He wants to move the ABC agents under the auspices of the State Police who have a very high level of training.
Is it really necessary to take a young man down to the sidewalk? Is it necessary to pull a gun on girls buying soda water? Even if they had been buying beer? Should they be shot?
These guys are taking themselves way too seriously.
UVA Pres says that the breathalyzer came back negative for being under the influence…
Good. That makes the case much more obvious.