Police release body cam footage of melee with UA students - officers under investigation
By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com The Birmingham News
Tuscaloosa, AL
A University of Alabama student whose refusal to come out of his apartment sparked a melee with police wasn't required to leave his unit, police said today.
In an 11 a.m. press conference, Tuscaloosa police Chief Steven Anderson said, "Based on what I've seen, the individual did not have to exit the apartment." Asked if the officers had the right to go in to the apartment, the chief said, "Based on what I've seen, no."
Anderson's comments followed this morning's release of body camera footage of the incident. Tuscaloosa city representatives met with the attorneys representing the three students arrested at in the early morning hours of Nov. 8 after police responded there on a noise complaint. Lt. Teena Richardson said during the meeting, officials showed the officers' body camera video.
Anderson acknowledged that the video didn't reveal anything "earth-shattering," but said police officials released the two hours of footage to continue their promise to be transparent. "Everybody knows we wear body cameras and they expect to see video,'' he said today.
The gaps in the video, he explained, were not police trying to covering anything up but simply were the videos changing from one officer's camera to another. The camera of the initial officer on the scene was knocked off during the confrontation, he said.
The only footage edited out, Anderson said, was the students' social security numbers, birthdates and other personal information. He said video released by the witnesses fill in the gaps caused by the officer's camera being knocked off.
Police were called to 12th Avenue Place Apartments on Frank Thomas Avenue about 3 a.m. on a noise complaint. What happened next is unclear, but multiple videos taken from both inside and outside of the apartment made their way across social media.
The video shows an officer talking to those inside the apartment at the front door, and those inside refusing to exit the apartment. The students questioned whether they were being arrested or detained, and whether the officers were within their rights to search the apartment.
Officers ended up going into the apartment. In one of the videos, one of the officers tells those inside the apartment to "Shut the (expletive) up." When told the incident was being videotaped, he replied, "I don't give a (expletive)."
At least a dozen officers quickly responded to the scene. A witness told AL.com the scene was chaotic. "They had a girl and two boys on the ground,'' she said. "They were all screaming and everybody was videoing it."
"It all happened extremely quickly, and I'm still shaken by the images that will forever be on my mind," said Patrick Weaver, a student who witnessed the events from a nearby apartment. "I've always been taught to respect authorities, but I believe that respect should be extended.
One of the young men was taken outside the apartment and then hit with a Taser stun gun, and struck repeatedly with an officer's nightstick. Matthew Gimlin Macia, 22, of Johns Creek, Ga. was arrested on charges of obstructing governmental operations and resisting arrest; Brandon James Williford, 21, of Tennessee was arrested on charges of obstructing governmental operations, harassment and resisting arrest. Caroline Elizabeth Giddis, 22, of Tennessee was arrested on charges of obstructing governmental operations and harassment. All three are students.
Three Tuscaloosa police officers were put on paid leave. Those officers are James Kent, Phillip Champion and Gregory Pimm. The officers placed on leave are the first officer to arrive on the scene, the officer who used the Taser on a student and the officer who used the nightstick, he said.
The first officer who arrived on the scene and was seen at the doorway in the multiple videos made public is an eight-year veteran. The officer who used the Taser has 12 years on the force, and the officer who repeatedly struck the student with the baton has two years on the TPD.
At a press conference several days after the incident, Tu Anderson said he immediately ordered an investigation. "Needless to say, once I started watching watching it, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw,'' the chief said.
Asked today if his impression had changed since the initial images, Anderson said it had not. "I still think we could have handled that situation a lot better,'' he said.
The police staff met first thing Monday morning following the incident. He said Internal Affairs investigators are reviewing all of the video submitted to them from the incident, as well as body camera video from the officers on the scene. He said he didn't have an exact count of how many officers responded to the apartment, but said the majority were wearing body cameras.
The chief has pleaded for patience during the probe. "This investigation does not move at the speed of the Internet,'' he said. "With a little bit of patience, we're going to get there. We're going to do everything we can to rebuild the public trust."
"Do not be afraid of calling the Tuscaloosa Police Department,'' he said. "Do we always get it right? No, but there's no need to fear us or fear our officers."
Updated at 11:27 a.m. with comments from the police chief's 11 a.m. press conference.
Al.com reporter Ben Flanagan contributed to this report.