A black student at the University of Virginia (UVA) was left with a gruesomely bloodied face requiring ten stitches after witnesses say he was brutalized by police simply for having a fake ID.
Students have reacted with outrage, arguing the assault reflected racism on the part of police, while Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has requested that state police mount an independent investigation in the matter. A picture of the student being held down while blood streams down his face has quickly gone viral on the Internet and has helped fuel anger from many around the country.
@UVA president @terrysulli is still silent on the matter of the assault against her Black male student by police. pic.twitter.com/nuvFi4oRBE
— Danaya: BuyTAAN331 (@danayasworld) March 18, 2015
According to The Cavalier Daily, Martese Johnson was stopped by officers of Virginia’s Department of Alcohol Beverage Control shortly after midnight on Wednesday when he tried to enter the local Trinity Irish Pub with a fake ID. According to police, Johnson became belligerent, forcing police to throw him to the ground and then arrest him. He faces charges for resisting arrest, obstructing justice, and profane swearing or intoxication in public.
A statement from the UVA group Black Dot, however, claims that Johnson was violently tossed to the ground despite being completely nonviolent.
“Outside of the doors of Trinity Irish Pub, a mass of University students bore witness to the officer’s animalistic, insensitive, and brute handling of Martese. He was left with his blood splattered on the pavement of University Avenue,” the group’s statement said. “After Martese was denied entry to the bar, he found himself suddenly flung to the ground. The brutish force used resulted in his head and bodily injuries. His treatment was unprovoked as he did not resist questioning or arrest.”
Other student eyewitnesses tell a similar tale.
“Martese was talking to the bouncer and there was some discrepancy about his ID,” senior Bryan Beaubrun told the Cavalier Daily. “[An] ABC officer approaches Martese and grabs him by the elbow … and pulls him to the side … Out of nowhere I saw the two officers wrestling Martese to the ground. I was shocked that it escalated that quickly. Eventually [he was] on the ground, they’re trying to put handcuffs on him and their knees were on his back.”
No video currently exists to back up the claims of either the police or student witnesses, though video has emerged of the altercation after Martese was thrown to the ground.
The video shows Johnson first begging police to not tase him (they don’t, at least during the video), and then calling the arresting officers “fucking racists.”
Several students claim Johnson’s arrest reflects racism on the part of police. White students, they say, use fake IDs to obtain alcohol all the time and are never beaten.
I used a fake ID for over a year. Every time I got denied it got handed back to me and I went on my way. Every time. #MarteseJohnson
— Judy Robbins (@_judyrobbins) March 18, 2015
Students are planning a protest march for Wednesday night.
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