Shocking video has emerged showing two officers at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University violently handcuff the 2020 Sophomore Class President and wrestle him to the ground after he questioned why the cops forced his friend to leave his residence hall.
On March 18 Verdant Julius, the president of the sophomore class at the historically black college, and two friends went to his residence hall to help each other pack up and move out as the school was being evacuated in light of the coronavirus epidemic.
However, a school security guard and local cop refused to allow Julius’ female friend from entering the hall because she did not live there.
When Julius questioned further, the officers slammed him to the ground and cuffed him.
Shocking video has emerged showing two officers at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University violently handcuff 2020 Sophomore Class President Verdant Julius on March 18 after he questioned why they were kicking out his friend from entering the residence hall
A school security guard and local cop refused to allow Julius’ female friend from entering the hall because she did not live there. When Julius questioned further, the officers slammed him to the ground and cuffed him
Harrowing video of the confrontation shows the moment an officer, who is black, gets behind Julius trying to put his hands behind his back and says: ‘If you resist, I’m going to mace you’
Harrowing video of the confrontation shows the moment an officer, who is black, gets behind Julius trying to put his hands behind his back and says: ‘If you resist, I’m going to mace you.’
Julius appears calm and says: ‘You’re honestly ridiculous. Like, we could have a conversation…’
When Julius raises his hands the officers try to put their hands behind his neck, pin him to a wall, then slam him to the ground.
‘I promise y’all, you guys are fired,’ Julius is heard saying as they wrestled with him.
One cop is seen placing his hand behind the student’s neck once Julius is sprawled on the floor as the other officer places him in handcuffs.
‘I promise y’all, you guys are fired,’ Julius is heard saying as they wrestled with him and placed him on the ground
One cop is seen placing his hand behind the student’s neck once Julius is sprawled on the floor as the other officer places him in handcuffs
The shocking clip, filmed by a friend, was shared in Twitter where it surpassed 1.5million views and sparked outrage among the student body and local community.
Those two officers have since been placed on administrative leave.
The University says they are aware of the incident and are investigating the matter.
‘University administrators are evaluating the matter in an effort to reach an appropriate resolution. Further, we have met with the individual student, as well as Student Government Association leadership, to understand their concerns,’ school officials said.
‘We are aware of the video circulating this morning on #NCAT and online. We are examining all of the information related to this incident, including facts not represented in the video. A full investigation is underway.’
The incident unfolded during a tense week on campus.
In person classes on campus were cancelled on Monday due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On Tuesday the school announced most students must leave university housing by the end of the week on Sunday.
After the video went viral online a petition entitled #JusticeforVerdant went viral, demanding A&T drop charges against the student and demanding that the officers be disciplined and a police review committee to review future police hires and complaints. Julius hasn’t commented on the incident
‘University administrators are evaluating the matter in an effort to reach an appropriate resolution. Further, we have met with the individual student, as well as Student Government Association leadership, to understand their concerns,’ school officials said
This isn’t the first incident of school officer excessive force to plague the campus. Last September, a security guard at the university was placed on leave after a shocking video surfaced showing the guard punch a student in the neck at the university’s student center
After the video went viral online a petition entitled #JusticeforVerdant went viral, demanding A&T drop charges against the student and demanding that the officers be disciplined and a police review committee to review future police hires and complaints.
As of Sunday that petition had 8,300 signatures, nearing its goal of 9,000.
That petition explained that Julius and his friends went to the McCain Residence Hall to help each other pack up.
The students were asked to show their student IDs to a campus security guard and local police officer and swipe into the residence hall to prove they were students.
A female friend of Julius was asked to leave because she was not a resident of McCain Hall.
Julius asked the two officers to an explanation as to why she had to leave.
In response an officer said: ‘If you take one step closer I am going to have you arrested for obstruction of an investigation.’
This was allegedly the first time that Julius and his friends were alerted about any investigation taking place in the hall. It’s not clear if there was an investigation or what it was about.
‘No college student deserves this type of abuse and harassment from campus security guards or local police officers on their college campus — especially during a global pandemic,’ the petition said.
This isn’t the first incident of school officer excessive force to plague the campus.
Last September, a security guard at the university was placed on leave after a shocking video surfaced showing the guard punch a student in the neck at the university’s student center.