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Guy King and William Kelly
Staff Writers
Students at Jackson State University held a sit-in protest yesterday at the Heritage Dining Hall in support of Rahim Aponte, a sophomore criminal justice major from Atlanta, Ga.
Aponte was arrested by campus police on Sunday, March 29, when he refused to leave the dining hall which was closing. He was later charged with disorderly conduct by the City of Jackson Police Department and given a fine of $345.
“I was in the cafeteria, I had just got out of practice and honestly I wasn’t aware that the cafeteria closed at 7 p.m. on Sundays. I got my plate after 7, it was about 7:03 p.m. I got my food and when I sat down, the security came over there and told us that we had to leave. I had just got my food, I hadn’t eaten all day so I said, ‘I understand where y’all are coming from, but I’m going to finish my food, just let me finish my food,’” said Aponte.
Aponte, a member of the JSU track and field team, was with several of his teammates at the time of the incident.
“While eating in the café two officers came by our table asking us to leave, because it was closing time. Rahim had just got his plate and understood that the café was about to close, but he wanted to finish his meal. While trying to finish, the officers came to Rahim and took his plate. The food from the plate fell on Rahim’s head, and the situation began to escalate,” said William Carroll, also a track team member and a freshman civil engineering major from Mobile, Ala. “From that point, the officers went too far and the situation could have been avoided.”
On Monday, an edited video (source unknown) was circulated among many students on the campus who were outraged at what they perceived to be excessive force from the officers. Word spread around the campus via text messages that a demonstration would be held in the dining hall on April 1.
One of the messages read: “Update on sit-in: If asked to leave the cafeteria please respond with “We have a voice.”” Remember that this is a PEACEFUL demonstration. Refrain from the use of profanity.”
Ariana Smith, a senior biology major from Oklahoma City, Okla. said this after seeing the video.
“I feel like it wasn’t right. I feel like the police used excessive force without a reason to. I feel like they violated him and he never did anything to them. And I feel like they’re not properly trained to handle situations like that because clearly if they were trained, it wouldn’t have happened like that. A lot of stuff slides with the campus police and they get away with a lot of stuff and I feel like it’s time for the students to take a stand,” said Smith.
Lindsey Horton, Associate Vice President for JSU Public Safety, believes reasonable force was used in the incident.
“We do have enough information to indicate that there was an incident with an individual arrested and several officers were involved. We’ve determined that based on the videos that I saw, it did not rise to the level of excessive force. There was an individual arrested for disorderly conduct and during the course of that, we determined there was a lot of abusive language that’s not conducive to the environment that you would expect on the campus of an institution that is charged with educating young people,” said Horton.
Horton also explained the difference between reasonable and excessive force.
“Reasonable force is defined as the minimum amount of force needed to bring a situation under control or an individual under control. As it relates to excessive force on an individual, it’s been said that the most visible element of any municipality is that of a uniformed police officer. If the officer determines that it’s necessary to either direct or order the overall population in a room or one individual to do something in the interest of safety, then that person should comply,” said Horton.
Imani Nelson, a senior biology major from Detroit, Mich. was one of the protest organizers.
“When we found out about the incident that took place this Sunday that just passed, somebody showed us the video of the security guard kind of harassing one of our students who is a part of the track team. When we saw the video, it sparked our interest because there are times when security, to us, has not done their jobs effectively. When they go overboard and abuse their authority, that’s an issue,” said Nelson.
Yesterday at 7:30 p.m., hundreds of students gathered at the dining hall where the incident occurred for a sit-in. At 8 p.m., when the dining hall was supposed to close, students remained seated. Organizers of the event want the university to comply with the following demands:
– the fine be waived for Aponte
– the removal of the charge from Aponte’s record
– extended cafeteria closing times
– to-go-boxes for instances when students cannot sit and eat
Nelson added: “This isn’t the first time that something like this has happened, it’s just the first time that this was caught on video… If it wasn’t for our tuition, we wouldn’t have these security guards; we wouldn’t be able to pay these security guards. So the reason that we stood up is because we’re tired of them being able to get away with stuff and sweep stuff under the rug like it’s no big deal when we all are affected by it. Especially with that young man having to go to court.”
During the protest, Aponte stated that he appreciated the support of his classmates.
“I think what they (JSU Campus Police) need to take out of this protest is that it’s a way that y’all can do things and I feel like a lot of the security that we have working, they don’t know the law,” said Aponte.
At press time, Horton was holding a question and answer session with the students who wanted to voice their concerns. He assured the students that the incident was under investigation.
Sodexo, the food services provider at JSU and Auxiliary Enterprises were contacted for input on this story. As of 9 p.m., at Blue & White Flash print deadline, no comments were given and protesters were still in the dining hall. Visit thejsuflash.com for updates and video on this story.
