A photo and letter circulating on twitter purports to show a UVA student bloodied and beaten at the hands of a Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Officer.
A photo and letter circulating on twitter purports to show a UVA student bloodied and beaten at the hands of a Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Officer.
RVA Mag has yet to confirm the man’s name, but UVA’s student paper, the Cavalier Daily, is reporting the student in the picture is Martese Johnson. According to Johnson’s Facebook page, he’s an Italian major at UVA, the only black member of UVA’s honors committee, and an aspiring investment banking major.
According to the Cavalier Daily, Johnson was arrested last night after 3 AM outside the Trinity Irish Pub. ABC Special agent J. Miller made the arrest and charged Johnson with resisting arrest, obstructing justice without threats of force, and profane swearing or intoxication in public.
Attempts to reach the local ABC official’s office were met with requests to speak with the main office in Richmond – those phone calls have not been returned by press time.
Charlottesville Police confirmed the incident, saying ABC officials were responsible for the initial incident with Johnson. CPD then called a medical response vehicle and brought in more police to respond to “a large disorder” call.
“We made sure the individual got medical treatment,” said CPD Captain Lewis, who said the angry crowd “absolutely was a reaction” to Johnson’s arrest. CPD made no arrests that night.
the Cavalier Daily spoke with third-year College student Bryan Beaubrun who claimed to have witnessed Johnson’s arrest. He said an ABC agent pulled Johnson out of the entry way of the club after a bouncer refused his ID.
“Martese was talking to the bouncer and there was some discrepancy about his ID,” Beaubrun told the CD. “[An] ABC officer approaches Martese and grabs him by the elbow…and pulls him to the side… Out of nowhere I saw the two officers wrestling Martese to the ground. I was shocked that it escalated that quickly. Eventually [he was] on the ground, they’re trying to put handcuffs on him and their knees were on his back.”
RVAMag will provide details as the become available
Twitter has since exploded with support and calls for action in the Johnson arrest
TW Police Brutality / Gore. @UVA student beaten for not having ID #UVA #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/lCfu7W6ypb
— #ACAPULCO (@MADBLACKTHOT) March 18, 2015
