A group of around 20 students shut down a cops and robbers-themed party at a University of Virginia delta which allegedly poked fun at mass incarceration.
With the racism and violence in Charlottesville still resonating in the state, the frat party was deemed to have crossed a line with their fancy dress costumes.
Those who attended were criticized as ‘spoiled brats of the frat’ as the protesters went about getting the get-together halted.
But the partygoers got their own back by calling the actual police and getting them kicked off the property for trespassing.
Thomas Jefferson statue in front of Rotunda of the University he founded, University Of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
The student union at the University of Virginia (UVA) posted about the incident on its Facebook page.
It read: ‘A group of about twenty or so students shut down a “cops and robbers” themed date function at the Hall, a fraternity on campus.
‘This came after about an hour of confrontation between the students and partygoers, culminating in the frat calling the police on the students, on the grounds of trespassing.
‘The members of the frat wore orange jumpsuits, with bandanas tied around their heads, chains, and tattoos drawn on their arms.
‘These “costumes” make a joke of mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex, systems that disproportionately brutalize people of color.
‘The predominantly white members of this fraternity got to take their costumes off at the end of the night, people trapped in the prison system do not.’
Reacting to the statement, CB Johnson called them ‘spoiled brats at the frat’ that ‘need to pull a tour of duty in the armed services then they might undetstand the flag and freedoms they enjoy’.
The statement continued: ‘The women wore ‘sexy’ cop outfits complete with hats and badges, some inexplicably had tear drop tattoos drawn on their face.
‘Historically, the police have justified violence against people of color in the name of protecting white women, and in wearing these costumes, these women made a joke of that legacy of violence.
‘During confrontations with people at the party, the majority of partygoers asserted that they had no intention of ‘offending or hurting anyone.’
‘It’s this kind of willful ignorance that allows white supremacy to continue.
‘After a summer of terror and violence instigated by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, it’s at the very least disappointing that members of the UVA community would so willing to make a joke of systems that kill and brutalize marginalized communities.’
Members of the Ku Klux Klan face counter-protesters as they rally in support of Confederate monuments in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 8, 2017
Henry Crochiere, a student at the school and Inter-Fraternity Council president, told Cavalier Daily: ‘A group of protesters were in the front yard requesting that the private date function be shut down due to the insensitive ‘cops and robbers’ theme of the party.
‘After trying to have a dialogue between the fraternity members and the protesters, it was determined that it would be best to call the police to help facilitate conversation and make sure there was order.’