Group of Chapel Hill, Carrboro Elected Officials ‘Strongly Condemn’ UNC’s Police Response to Protesters
Posted by Brighton McConnell | May 1, 2024 | International, Local Government, UNC
Group of Chapel Hill, Carrboro Elected Officials ‘Strongly Condemn’ UNC’s Police Response to Protesters
A group of Chapel Hill and Carrboro town council members issued a joint statement on Wednesday, criticizing the UNC administration’s response to pro-Palestine demonstrators during an encampment protest and subsequent rally on Tuesday.
A signed letter from four Chapel Hill and four Carrboro elected officials said the group strongly condemns the “use of aggressive police tactics” against the students and other community members — calling it “unnecessary” and an “overreaction.” The collection of council members pointed to the importance of free speech and academic freedom for those who participated, saying they believe students should not face penalties or violence for “peacefully engaging in protected free speech.”
UNC said Tuesday it had campus law enforcement — including several officers from other UNC System schools — clear the site of a four-day-long encampment protest because the organizers had violated campus policy through erecting tents, accessing university buildings overnight, and materially disrupting campus operations. Thirty-six people were detained, according to UNC media relations, with six people charged with trespassing and 30 cited for trespassing. The university said 16 of those detained are Carolina students and described the others as people not affiliated with the school.
Later on Tuesday, a subsequent rally organized by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine led to another clash with police. After demonstrators moved from the steps of South Building to the central flagpole, some took down the United States flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. That sparked a swift response from campus police, including a group who emerged from South Building with UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and pushed through the students to replace the American flag. Videos from the scene show officers throwing demonstrators to the ground, pulling people’s hair and using pepper spray.
The group of Chapel Hill and Carrboro town council members said they remain committed to working with UNC leaders “to ensure the safety of all students and community members as they exercise their right to free speech and peaceful protest.”
Town Council members in both Carrboro and Chapel Hill are aware of the arrests of peaceful protestors on UNC’s campus yesterday morning. We strongly condemn this overreaction by the UNC administration. Chapel Hill and Carrboro Police were not involved in this action. We, the undersigned, believe that, in taking this unnecessary step, UNC administration created an environment that inevitably resulted in an escalation of force, including the use of pepper spray against its own students. This use of aggressive police tactics against students and community members invites aggressive responses, and only serves to escalate an already tense situation.
Moving forward, we strongly urge UNC to abide by the recently published guidance from the ACLU to University leaders designed to protect the free speech and academic freedom of all involved. Specifically, the ACLU offered the following guardrails:
1. Schools must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment.
2. Schools must protect students from targeted discriminatory harassment and violence, but may not penalize people for taking sides on the war in Gaza, even if expressed in deeply offensive terms.
3. Schools can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral time, place, or manner policies on protesting activity, but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves. These rules must be applied consistently and without regard to viewpoint.
4. Schools must recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students and are a measure of last resort.
5. Schools must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions.
We stand ready to work with the University to ensure the safety of all students and community members as they exercise their right to free speech and peaceful protest.
We additionally urge DA Nieman to dismiss the charges against all those arrested and to prioritize restorative justice rather than punitive measures. UNC students should not face penalties – or violence – for peacefully engaging in protected free speech.
Signed,
Theo Nollert, Chapel Hill Town Council
Melissa McCullough, Chapel Hill Town Council
Paris Miller-Foushee, Chapel Hill Town Council
Karen Stegman, Chapel Hill Town Council
Danny Nowell, Carrboro Town Council
Jason Merrill, Carrboro Town Council
Catherine Fray, Carrboro Town Council
Eliazar Posada, Carrboro Town Council
Jeff Nieman, the district attorney for Orange and Chatham counties, later shared his own statement responding to the request to dismiss all charges. He said while both peaceful protesters and law enforcement officers have the right to act free from threats of violence, his office will only make decisions on the arrested protesters’ cases “once we have received and reviewed all the evidence in these cases.”
“I have stated publicly, and privately to some of these same officials,” said Nieman, “that if we determine that crimes have been committed and properly enforced, we would proceed with the cases that meet that standard. I can understand why some public officials may feel compelled to speak out on matters of public interest. However, a prosecutorial decision should never be made prior to collection and thorough review of all the relevant evidence. That evidence is still being compiled; therefore, it’s impossible for anyone to make a reasoned determination as to how best to proceed in these matters.”
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
