GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Viral videos circulating continue to stir reaction in Greensboro. The videos appear to show UNCG police’s interaction with a student and her boyfriend, allegedly showing the student being taken to the ground by police, following a traffic stop.
Senator Michael Garrett demanded a full investigation, saying the officers “chose escalation over patience.”
On Friday, the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association spoke out on behalf of the officers.
A staff representative with the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association said they represent some of the officers involved in the October 6 incident on campus.
He said officers reached out to them right after the incident, also explaining what happened.
Viral videos capturing encounter with UNCG police spark outrage from campus NAACP, state senator
“Due to some of the, the attention from elected officials and stuff on this case, the officers were concerned about possible disciplinary issues or retaliate retaliatory issues through the position of, specifically Senator Garrett. You know, with his position as an elected official,” said Brandon McGaha, Staff Representative for the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association:
The encounter happened on October 6 near Lexington Residence Hall in UNCG’s Spartan Village.
Campus police say a car had been parked running for nearly 40 minutes, and the driver, 24-year-old Quinten Thomas, had a suspended license.
According to a statement from UNCG’s NAACP, Thomas had parked briefly in a left-turn lane on Glenwood Avenue to walk his girlfriend, 22-year-old UNCG student Alisia Rea, to her dorm.
“The officers. I’ve spoken to them who were on scene. So, she came out and got involved, and they were trying to arrest the male. She, to my understanding, she grabbed one of the officers that were trying that was trying to get this young man out of the car,” said McGaha.
A viral video appears to show officers pulling Thomas from the car.
In another video, Rea appears to walk away, but is later taken to the ground by 3 officers.
The association representing some of the officers said it has evaluated the situation and believes the officers acted within policy.
“What you see is her resisting arrest and trying to get her into custody after they’ve tried to resolve this without taking her to jail or the man, or, for that matter, they will take him to jail. They tried to resolve it without taking him. And these young folks just didn’t want to cooperate with it,” said McGaha.
State Senator Michael Garrett said he was contacted by concerned parents, students, and faculty about the incident, and he immediately called for transparency.
“The way the video ends, with the young woman who, you know, it’s, in my opinion, a bystander videoing the, videoing the incident that didn’t really deserve to be tackled to the ground and taken into custody. I thought that was an overreaction by law enforcement at the time that I saw the video,” said NC Senator Michael Garrett (D-Guilford County).
Garrett said he’s met with UNCG administrators and police.
McGaha with the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association said he spoke with Garrett on Thursday about the incident.
“I told him,… as I’ve told anybody that asks that I’m waiting to see what the report says at the end of the day, and, the report that I’m most interested in is the one that involves the UNC system,” said Garrett.
At this time, the North Carolina Police Benevolent Association said they are offering support to the involved officers they represent.
“We monitor the situation. If they face any type of, disciplinary or legal challenges, we’ll get involved with attorneys, in that situation, evaluated to see if the officers, were acting justly or if they if they did, make mistakes out there, we which we’ve already we’ve already done an evaluation on that portion from the information we have available to us,” said McGaha.
At this time, UNCG’s police chief said they are waiting for the court to rule on our petition for the release of the bodycam footage.
If that footage is released, it will be shared with UNCG administrators and the UNC System office for oversight and review of the incident.
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