The FBI has taken over an investigation into police conduct during last semester’s post-Duke victory riot, during which police used what some called excessive force — horses, pepper spray, pellets and batons — in controlling a rowdy student crowd.
Thursday night and into Friday, federal investigators interviewed about 40 Prince George’s County Police officers at their homes — nearly nine months to the day after the March 4 mayhem. Although investigations had been ongoing in the county police’s internal affairs division, the state’s attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office, no charges had been brought against any of the officers in question.
The officers interviewed by the FBI were selected because federal authorities felt they could provide useful eyewitness accounts of that night, officials said.
“We were very particular in who we picked,” FBI spokesman Rich Wolf said, adding he could not release details from the interviews because of the ongoing investigation. “The 40 officers were determined to be useful in providing information or they were present at the scene.”
Initially, when various departments began to look into county police conduct from the night of the riot, the FBI had deferred to local and state authorities. When the FBI reappeared as a leader in the probe, local investigators stepped aside.
“Our understanding always was that we were the lead in the investigation,” county police spokesman Maj. Andrew Ellis said. “But at this point there are now strong indications to us that the FBI intends to take over this investigation.”
Ellis said county police gave the FBI names of officers who were working that night but was surprised with the approach they took when conducting interviews.
“It’s unconventional,” Ellis said. “It’s not the manner in which interviews are normally conducted in these types of investigations, but I’m sure the FBI had their own good reasons for it.”
Ellis noted the county police’s internal investigation, despite being close to complete, is on hold. He said county police could bring charges against its officers today, but, due to the nature of this case, department officials decided to defer to higher powers.
“Throughout the course of the investigation we have been coordinating with the state’s attorney’s office and the U.S. attorney’s office,” Ellis said. “At this point, we’re acting pursuant to their instruction. … We could, if we wanted to, bring charges against certain individuals via a statement of charges. But because it involves police officers and because of the very public nature of what occurred, it’s more prudent for us to work with the state’s attorney’s office and to go through the grand jury process of indictment.”
Last spring, the riot made national headlines after students alleged police used excessive force in dispersing a crowd of hundreds of students who spilled into the streets, uprooted street signs and cheered on the Terrapin men’s basketball team after they beat Duke for the first time after six consecutive losses.
The case against police was fortified after attorneys released a student’s video footage depicting police using their batons to beat then-junior John McKenna without apparent provocation, the day after charges against McKenna and then-sophomore Ben Donat were dropped.
Four officers were suspended with pay — the three officers county police determined were in the video, as well as Sean McAleavey, the officer who signed charging documents against McKenna. The footage largely debunked what the documents alleged — that McKenna had provoked horses and assaulted officers.
The Washington Post reported Reginald H. Baker, Anthony J. Cline and James Harrison Jr. were the three officers shown in the video, but Ellis would not confirm those names.
Ellis added that one of the three officers in the footage now has an administrative position, while the other two remain suspended with pay. McAleavey returned to full duty after police officials determined he signed charging documents based on what other officers told him and was therefore not culpable for any inaccuracies.
State’s attorney spokesman Ramon Korionoff said the state will continue its own investigation even as the FBI assumes more control.
“We are working very thoroughly and diligently on the matter and in conjunction with our federal counterparts,” Korionoff said. “[The time frame] really depends where our investigation leads us.”
The FBI is in a similar position.
“We’re never in a hurry to wrap these things up because of the sensitive nature of [civil rights investigations],” Wolf said. “There’s really not a time frame right now.”
As the criminal investigation picks up speed, attorneys Chris Griffiths and Terrell Roberts and private investigator Sharon Weidenfeld are constructing civil cases against police for a number of students, including McKenna.
Weidenfeld said she and her colleagues were relieved to see authorities actively pursuing the case again, which she said appeared to be shelved for a number of months.
“Our clients are extremely happy to see that this investigation is moving and that it is being taken so seriously by the Department of Justice,” she said. “Our clients have been fully cooperative with the FBI in their investigation.”
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