Newspapers / Fayetteville State University Student … / March 20, 1997, edition 1 / Page 14
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upset students and a frustrated chancellor McLeod try to resolve an issue that never should have happened. M Broncos' Voice March 1997 MCLEOD ATTEMPTS TO DISSPELL VACUUM OF IGNORANCE by Roger A. Harris On Feburary 26, 1997, at FSU’s Shaw Auditorium, dur ing a SGA meeting convened at 3:00 p.m.. Chancellor Willis B. McLeod championed stu dents questions concerning last thursday’s aggressive in tervention by Campus and Fayetteville Police depart ments of a victory celebration that ended in a dormitory be ing overran by police officers and the arrests of four students for failure to dispurse. Still un answered is whether students civil and constitutional rights were abridged during the fracus. McLeod began his open ing remarks by commenting on the various claims that where made in the internal in vestigations conducted by both FSU and Fayetteville city Po lice departments. He stated that he hoped to dispell the vacuum of ignorance that sur rounded the events that took place last Thursday. In closing, he noted that although he didn’t agree with everything that was stated in the reports, that they both were consistant. During the meeting SGA Vice President Daphni Betts iri- structed that copies of the re ports be distributed to the ap proximately 100 students in attendance. SGA President Jeremy Hollingsworth followed McLeod’s statements with a direct, frank, and impassioned rebuttal. He intoned that what McLeod had just stated amounted to blaming the stu dents for what had happened. “The students may not have been angels in this matter, but neither were the police. Don’t blame the students for what happened.” He stated that stu dents civil and cosntitutional rights were abridged and that it wouldn’t be condoned or tol erated. There was a need for direct answers to student con cerns now. He closed by of fering that if the student cel ebration had happened on N.C. State, that we wouldn’t be having this meeting on this topic right now. When the floor was opened to questions, students began pointing out the inconsistancies within both reports. McLeod passionately and sincerely answered most of the inquiries. During this period it was expressly stated that FSU campus police are to be held responsible for any mistakes that may have been made by either police force on the scene of the evening in question. When FSU Investigator Captain Moore waivered in trying to specifically answer if his officers may have made a mistake, McLeod took the floor and stated “No, I am not satisfied with the way things were handled by our campus police and have spoken with [FSU police] Chief Bell on immediate actions that need to be taken to prevent a future occurance.” McLeod en joys an extreme level of loyalty and support from FSU students. Se nior computer Sci ence major Linda Barden stated that “students need to be mature and re sponsible in their actions.” While Senior psychology ma jor John Sylvester stated that “students are angry about what happened, not at McLeod.” Yet Slyvester Hunter, who alleges that mace was sprayed under his locked door as he tried to protect himself form being accosted by police stated that “the issue here today isn’t whether students were at a dif ferent party before we got to our dorm. We were at our home. We were doing no wrong, and had our civil rights abridged. This meeting has to tally ignored this issuer.” It would appear that the victims are being accused of the crime. And although Mcleod’s patience and sicereity eased most students concerns, it still left three very important issues unresolved: (1) since no report by any officer stated that ille gal substances were detected (which was the original reason for their being summoned), what provoked their reqest to have the students disperse, (2) if asked to disperse, why was there a need for police to chase and enter the dormitory that the students fled into and (3), by admitting that FSU police didn’t handle the situation properly, does this open the door for future civil law suits? Reactions to the Events of February 20.1997 at Bryant Hall By: Lance M. Snead 111 Bryant Hall March 3, 1997 To Whom It May Concern: I must address and question many of the actions of all po lice personnel at FSU during the altercation that took place at Bryant Hall a few nights ago. First, I will admit that I was not actually present dur ing most of the events. How ever, I have read one of the official police reports, and I think my questions have seri ous merit. 1. FSU Police called the Fayetteville Police requesting help. The FSU Police claimed that there were approximately lOO'peOfrte present. My room is next to the parking lot. There have been nights that I’ve heard one person shouting. Yet on the night when supposedly 100 people were in the park ing lot being rowdy, playing loud music, and engaging in “illegal activity,” I heard noth ing. If 100 people were truly there, I would at least have heard them breathing. 2. The report stated that when city police arrived, there were 60-150 people in the crowd of “illegal activity.” This is an incredibly broad estimate. 10- 20,120-140, 5-7 are plausible sight-only estimates. 60-150? This raises the question of whether these officers have actually seen a true gathering of 100 persons. It would ap pear the officers are throwing out large numbers to back up their needed presence. By the way, I nor my roommates have not heard a thing outside yet. 3. The report stated that the officers were able to get stu dents to return to the insides of the dormitory for a brief period. Missions accom plished? Yet police officers trekked through the halls of the dorm armed with mace. The report gave no explanation of why this was necessary, espe cially since the primary objec tive was to disperse the crowd. 4. The report stated that liquid that “appeared to be urine” was dumped out of the upper lev els of Bryant Hall. Later, the report refers to the supposed urine as “urine.” If the liquid was urine, why did the report state “appeared to be” first? Why not state that urine was dumped. This raises the ques tion of whether urine was truly dumped or are officials cover ing their rear? 5. The report concludes that all officers involved did their work correctly. Yes, except read the Constitution of the United States of America. The report states that officials man aged to get the crowd out of the parking lot and onto the grassy front lawn. The offic ers instructed the crowd to dis perse. The crowd refused and stated that, as resident students of FSU, they have every right to stay outside. The report con firms that students made this claim. The officers continued their presence and deamanded for the crowd to disperse. The report gives no reason explain ing the officers’ actions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that the Fourth Amend ment of the United States Con stitution gives cirizens the right peaceably to ssemble. Furthermore, the billing state ments for resident students al low us to live here on campus. There is no curfew. Quiet hours do not extend outside the dormitories. If I want to stand outside on the lawn in the middle of the night with a few dozen other residents, there is no reason or rule to stop us. The officers persisted anyway. 6. The report states that the crowd goers were engaging in “illegal behavior.” On the grounds of “failing to disperse on command,” four arrests were made. That’s to say only 4 out of 60-150 people failed to disperse on command. With so many officers present and so many persons engaging in “illegal activity,” there should have been a lot more than four arrests. There wasn’t even an arrest for disturbing the peace. Were the officers enforcing the law, flexing their muscles, or backing up their continued presence? As I stated, I was not actually there during the entire event. I came outside when the fire alarm went off. Maybe all of the report’s claims are true. I do know that I have excellent hearing. Residents live on campus and have First Amend ment and Fourth Amendment rights. There is a great differ ence between a gathering of 60 people and 150 people. When 100 people are guilty of the same crime, don’t execute just four. Finally, urine is urine, or it is not urine. 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March 20, 1997, edition 1
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