Approximately seven Georgetown students were harassed and assaulted by Metropolitan Police Department officers early Sunday morning for “disorderly conduct.” The two students that were arrested and five that were harrassed are drafting a petiton protesting their treatment and calling for an investigation into the incident.
Between 1:30 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., on Sunday, April 13, the Metropolitan Police Department responded to a noise violation at a house in Burleith, which led to the use of force by the officers involved.
According to Beau Henson (CAS ‘02), approximately seven students, including him, were sitting on the back porch of the house, listening to music when the police arrived. The police asked the students to turn off the music and then asked to speak to the owner of the house. The owner of the house was not there, Henson said, but had given the students permission to be there. However, the police ordered everyone to leave the premises, he said.
At this point, one of the students asked the police officers what law they were enforcing by making them leave private property. According to students present at this time, the officer responded by saying, “I am the law.”
According to Henson, the officer proceeded to pull out her baton, push the students off the property and grab the student who questioned her actions. According to observers, the student’s hands were up throughout this ordeal and he was not resisting.
“The officer grabbed him forcefully and threw him out into the road, where she pinned him up against the car and cuffed him forcefully,” said Chad Adams (CAS ‘03), who was present at the scene.
The leading officer called for backup during this time, and within one or two minutes, there were between six and eight police cars at the scene, according to Henson.
Rick Kentz (CAS ‘02), who was also present, asked the police officers what was going to happen to his friend, and an officer responded by saying, “I’ll show you.” Kentz said he was then tackled onto the lawn and dragged for five yards, causing bruises and scrapes. Three police officers then pinned him down with their knees and handcuffed him.
The two students were arrested for disorderly conduct.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department record of one of the arrests, “the defendant attempted to push the police officer at which point he was subdued.” There was no mention of the use of batons in this report.
The policy on the use of force for police officers requires that “any time you use an impact weapon [baton], you are mandated to file a report on the use of force,”said Lt. Brian Bray of the MPD Second District. Bray said that the officer present in this situation claimed to have only brandished and not used her baton.
However, “for tackling or the throwing to the ground of a defendant with bodily force, a use of force report is not needed,” Bray said.
After the arrests took place, the rest of the students present dispersed, Henson said. Four of the students were walking near S Street when a police car drove by them, he said.
One of the students yelled an obscenity at the officer, who then stopped his car and approached the students.
He grabbed one of the students by the shirt and, according to observers, proceeded to throw the student up against the car and search him.
According the Rob Walls (SFS ‘04), the student being searched, the officer made several negative remarks about students at Georgetown University. The students present also attest to hearing the officer make a homophobic slur during this encounter.
When the incident ended, according to the students present, the officer told them “All right, I didn’t get you this time, but I’ll see you at the [upcoming IMF protests].”
Kentz, one of the two students arrested, reported that at the police station, he was refused a telephone call and was handcuffed to a wall. The two students remained at the station until about 6:30 a.m., he said, even though their friends claim they arrived at 3:15 a.m. to pay the fine for their release. “Our rights were shredded,”said Henson.
The students involved are planning to start a petition for an investigation into this incident by both the mayor Anthony Williams and the Chief of Police Charles Ramsey.
