Delaware State University, a historic black college, has announced it will file a formal complaint with the Department of Justice’s civil rights department nearly a month after Georgian officials pulled a bus carrying the university’s women’s lacrosse team for traffic violations and searched it for drugs. The school said the search left student athletes “humiliated” and accused officials of misconduct and racial profiling.
Tony Allen, the university’s president, said in a statement Friday that the university had conducted its own investigation into the incident and found that “stopping and searching raises serious problems with the constitution and civil rights”.
“From our point of view, the evidence is clear and convincing,” Allen said.
Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman, who is black, said his office was conducting an official review of the traffic stop. He said lawmakers stopped other commercial vehicles on I-95 that morning and found drugs on another bus. The team’s hired bus was stopped because it was traveling in the left lane, which is illegal in Georgia.
Authorities in Georgia searched a bus carrying the women’s lacrosse team at Delaware State University on April 20, 2022.
The sheriff said deputies had decided to search the team’s bus when a dog that smelled drugs “warned” him.
“I do not practice racial profiling, I do not allow racial profiling and I do not promote racial profiling,” Bowman told reporters. The sheriff added that based on what he already knows about the suspension, he believes it is legal.
Georgian courts have ruled that the smell of marijuana is enough to give authorities a possible reason to search vehicles without a warrant. The sheriff said he welcomed the feedback from the lacrosse team.
No one has been arrested or charged since the search. The sheriff said the bus driver had been warned.
In an exclusive interview with CBS Philly Friday, Allen said he had a “heartfelt” conversation with the sheriff after the incident, but noted that the two “disagree in substance.”
A video posted online by a Delaware lacrosse player shows two white deputies on the bus. One of them told the passengers on the bus that possession of marijuana was illegal in Georgia.
“If there’s anything in everyone’s luggage, we’ll probably find it, fine,” he said. “I’m not looking for some marijuana, but I’m pretty sure your companions will probably be disappointed if you find one.
The deputy continues: “You guys are on a lacrosse team, aren’t you? If there is anything suspicious, please let me know now. Because if we find it, guess what? We will not be able to help you “
Video footage made during the incident also showed authorities inspecting student sports bags and other personal belongings.
Speaking to CBS Philly, Allen praised the entire team’s response to the incident.
“The way they behaved, both on this bus that day and after, says a lot about the future of our young people,” he said, adding that they were doing “great” despite the “emotional trauma” of the incident.
Sidney Anderson, the student who posted the video, wrote in The Hornet Newspaper University that team members believe the search was “fundamental racism.”
“The team members were shocked to see the police walking around in their bags,” Anderson wrote. “They took the K-9 dog out to smell their luggage. The cops started throwing underwear and other women’s products in an attempt to find drugs.”
On Friday, Allen also praised Anderson’s courage in reporting the incident in a statement. “I can’t say enough about the dignity, grace and determination of our student-athletes, as well as that of our student-athlete-journalist Sidney Anderson.
He said the university’s “immediate concern” was the well-being of those who were on board the bus during the stop.
“We realize that in the current environment, even stopping traffic can be worrying for citizens, especially African Americans,” Allen said.
The university president added on Friday that while the latest bomb threats on HBCU campuses provide a perspective for the administration’s concern, the school is determined to take action.
“We don’t teach our students to be submissive,” Allen said. “We teach them to be empowered and to use their voice for good – to do things that are greater than their own interests. That is why the best of our nation are behind them and why they will not be touched.
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