The suspension of two Prince George’s County police officers for the apparently unprovoked beating of a university student during the post-Duke game riot last month is a small vindication for the other students who felt the full force of county police batons that night.
Since the chaos of March 4, students have told anyone who would listen about how police mistreated them and threatened them with further punishment if they told anyone their stories. Hundreds of other students saw the violence, and most condemned it. But no one listened.
The “mature adults” in the county police department and university administration had made up their minds: This was just another case of those immature students doing something stupid. In their minds, students were guilty, students should be punished, and students deserved it. Stories in this newspaper couldn’t change their minds and neither could the dozens of videos shot by both television journalists and regular students showing evidence of police brutality.
It took a blatant example to change that. Junior John McKenna was walking down Knox Road when he was charged by police in riot gear, slammed up against the outer wall of Jason’s Deli and furiously beaten to the ground with batons by several officers. Monday, all the charges against McKenna were dropped in light of the video for good reason: Not only does the video show excessive force by law enforcement, but also it directly contradicts the report filed by officers stating McKenna struck mounted Park Police officers and their horses, who appeared to be too far away for that to be true, when McKenna was beaten by police in the video.
Numerous media reports claimed the video of McKenna “surfaced” Monday, which conveniently ignores the fact the video, in unedited form, has been on YouTube and on this newspaper’s website for more than a month. However, it took a “responsible adult” lawyer handing it to other area media outlets for anyone to care.
County Police Chief Roberto Hylton said he was “very disappointed” in the actions of his officers and has called for anyone else with video footage to contact police. Hylton deserves credit for swiftly responding to the video’s release. His condemnations have been serious, and one officer was suspended within hours of the news breaking. But Hylton is a month late.
Why didn’t police see the footage themselves? It turns out they were looking at videos of the riot but only to possibly identify student perpetrators, not to examine police behavior, despite widespread outcry from students.
To those who were on Route 1 that night and to anyone who knows how to work a search engine, this video is not news. But that didn’t seem to matter to county police. It wasn’t until the video of McKenna being beaten by police was picked up by The Washington Post, CNN and other national news outlets earlier this week that county police really started to sweat. We wonder, do the complaints of students not matter? Or is it only when “mature adults” begin to shy away in shame that the concerns of the younger generation gain legitimacy?
Some students deserve to be punished. But as the video of McKenna shows us, they may not be the ones who were led away in handcuffs. Hylton has asked that his department’s reputation not be determined by the actions of a few. And yet, administrators, alumni and even city residents have passed sweeping judgment on the students present that night.
But trying to make it look like both sides were equally at fault isn’t just absurd, it’s disgraceful. Even for Office of Student Conduct Director John Zacker to continue to hold the threat of academic sanctions over students who have had all charges dropped against them is questionable.
We’ve come to expect such behavior from county police, a department which was being monitored by the Justice Department up until 14 months ago due to complaints of excessive force. But for administrators to take the side of police brutality, arguing they must wait to see formal police documents (the legitimacy of which should be strongly questioned after the revelations of McKenna’s case) before taking any action, is wrong.
Sweeping judgment should not be passed on police or students. But before so many are quick to jump to the side of the police, they should stop, listen and question. The truth is not always discernible or easy to find. But it is out there, perhaps buried on YouTube or hidden in the cell phone of a student. And it will be found.
