I’ve played two games of lacrosse in my life. It is a demanding and exhausting game.
I was an intern at the Cincinnati Enquirer during the summer of 1981. I met several Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., brothers who played intramural lacrosse. Their team was short of players. They asked me to fill in. I was awful but I had fun.
Fast forward 41 years to Liberty County, Georgia on April 20, 2022.
A bus carrying members of the Delaware State University women’s lacrosse team returning home from Florida was pulled over. Deputies told the bus driver, a Black man named Tim Jones, he was driving in an incorrect lane.
During the traffic stop, presumed innocence took a back seat to some downhome Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane style justice from the “Dukes of Hazzard.”
“If there is anything in y’all’s luggage, we’re probably gonna find it, OK?,” a deputy threatened.
This isn’t “alleged” behavior by the law enforcement officer. It was captured on a player’s camera video.
Luggage was searched without a warrant. A drug-sniffing canine made an appearance. Police said it caught the scent of marijuana, which by Georgia law can justify a search. I wish the dog could talk. It would say “liars” with a Southern accent.
Deputies found a wrapped package belonging to senior captain Aniya Aiken in a gift bag. Her aunt requested that Aiken not open it until she arrived home. She had no idea what was inside.
“You see that kinda seems like, ‘What’s going on?’ … This is the type of stuff we look for,” the deputy said.
The package contained a jewelry box. It was a graduation gift.
No apology was given, nor did the bus driver receive a ticket or warning.
“The infuriating thing was the assumption of guilt on their behalf,” DSU coach Pamella Jenkins told the Delaware News Journal. She called the incident “traumatizing.”
Delaware State, Howard University, and the University of District Columbia are the only HBCUs that field lacrosse teams. 70% of DSU’s players are Black, according to the university.
The deputies boarded the bus, saw a Black driver and a group comprised mostly of Black women. The last thing they thought was how much these student athletes have accomplished in their lives. A bunch of Black people? Honorable college athletes? No way.
“Something has to happen about this because it was just something that no one should go through, let alone a Division I sports team. Basically, we were violated,” freshman Brianne Johanson said.
While players had posted videos and Twitter comments after the incident, the story did not reach mainstream media until after a story was posted online from the DSU newspaper The Hornet.
Suddenly under scrutiny, Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman, who is Black, stated on May 2 that “no personal items on the bus or person(s) were searched.”
Whoops. There is video footage of deputies rummaging through several suitcases. Cut, the ‘corn pone,’ sheriff. You’re as guilty of violating the players and coaches’ right as your backwoods deputy buddies.
DSU announced it will file a federal civil rights complaint with the Department of Justice, and the school’s investigation found “serious constitutional and civil rights issues” with the traffic stop, according to a CBS News report.
Patrick Campanelli is father to one of the players. He’s also a civil rights attorney in suburban Chicago.
“I’ve been a criminal defense lawyer for a real long time and I knew exactly what the officer was doing,” Campanelli told the News Journal.
“He was trying to force statements out of people. Would they do this if this was a Notre Dame bus? Would a state trooper ever think of going on and trying to accuse people without an inkling of evidentiary support? No.”
Liberty was put on hold in Liberty County on April 20. Hopefully, the sheriff, deputies, county, and state of Georgia will pay a price.
Y’all come back now, ya here? NOT!
The Reid Roundup
Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns were booed off the court at halftime of an embarrassing 123-90 Game 7 loss to visiting Dallas…After elimination by the Miami Heat in a second-round NBA playoff series, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid told the media, “You gotta look at the players.”…Following the 2018-19 season, the 76ers signed Tobias Harris to a five-year, $180 million deal leaving Jimmy Butler to the free-agent market. He signed with the Heat. After the Heat dispatched the 76ers, Butler asked on Twitter “Tobias Harris over me?”
