A 21-year-old black Harvard mathematics student, Serlome Ohene, was tackled and punched repeatedly by Cambridge police on Friday night after he stood in the middle of a busy road naked and disoriented. Reports say about 30 people slowed down/stopped to see what was happening with some of them taking videos. Some allude unnecessary brute force was used during the incident, which sparked controversy and pressed the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) to open an investigation. On Sunday, they released the police video (shown below). The New York Times state:
The video of the incident shows a few police officers standing in a circle around Mr. Ohene for several moments. As he stepped toward one officer, a second officer dove at his legs from behind, the video shows, and Mr. Ohene and the officers fell to the ground. Mr. Ohene could be heard crying out at that point. At least one officer then could be seen punching Mr. Ohene, and the police have acknowledged that an officer punched him five times in the stomach.
As of today, 30 Harvard organizations co-signed a statement issued by the Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) that disputes the police account. Here are excerpts from that statement:
“We demand that the officers who assaulted this man while he was naked, fully subdued and bleeding on the ground be investigated and held accountable.
Additionally, we demand that CPD respect the rights of civilians recording police conduct. The CPD policy recognizes that ‘individuals have the right under the First Amendment to openly record police activity in public in a peaceful manner’ and that officers shall not under any circumstances threaten, intimidate or otherwise discourage an individual from recording police officer enforcement of activities or operations, or intentionally block or obstruct cameras or recording devices . . ..’ It was clear to our Harvard BLSA members that CPD officers were not following these procedures. But for our members’ persistence in defying police attempts to obstruct videotaping this incident, there would be no record.
The conduct of the CPD on the evening of April 13, 2018 was unacceptable. We are reminded, as soon-to-be-graduates of an elite law school that we cannot protect our bodies with our degrees — and that is why we also call our current students and alumni to embrace these demands as inclusive to all Black people, not just Harvardians.
We imagine a world where the most marginalized people in our society are not subject to systematic violations of their bodily autonomy and civil rights, and the CPD has failed the Cambridge community in this regard.”
The statement also mentions there was a pool of blood left on the pavement as the ambulance drove Ohene away. The two attorneys representing Ohene are also professors at Harvard University. They say the video “speaks for itself.” Ohene is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries and the family asks for privacy.
Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern called the video “disturbing,” adding...
“...the horrific treatment of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement has no place in Cambridge.”
Here is the Cambridge police video. Note: In this video, the police are giving their account of the incident—defending their actions.
Transcript Excerpts (in block quotes)
“Officers responded, located the man, and verbally engaged him on the intersection on the median area of Massachusetts Avenue. At some point it was learned from his acquaintances that he may have ingested a hallucinogenic substance. That video shows that the officers standing around engaging him for a long period of time.”
Perhaps, the bulk of the video is missing, as the clip we see shows the police taking him down within a very short period of time.
“At some point the officers made the determination that (their attempt) was less than successful and decided to take him to the ground. That video also shows that the man wasn’t compliant when he was on the ground. There was a lot of stuff going on down there. He was flailing, kicking…”
The CPD official states that Ohene was noncompliant, kicking and flailing while on the ground. If four strong men use a combined physical force to “take down” one person, wouldn’t anyone be flailing due to an innate survival instinct, in effort to escape the pain? Either way, adding the admitted five punches was unnecessary force. There is no doubt about that.
Here is the CPD’s added statement.
“Unable to pry Ohene’s hands from underneath his body, I delivered approximately five strikes with a closed fists to the area of his stomach.” Police shackled his ankles before putting him in an ambulance.
Seeing someone naked in public, on a busy street, at night—is reason for concern. Was it necessary for all four officers to tackle this unarmed naked man the way they did, throwing him down onto the pavement, kneeing him, pinning, punching him five times and leaving a pool of blood? There’s no justification.
I believe the majority of police officers are decent men and women who try to do the best job they can while risking their lives every day. I’ve had my life saved by police officers—but I’m white. It just seems that when it comes to people of color, the “bad” in some police officers comes out way too easily. When I first watched this video, it was hard not to feel a foreboding fear that this man might not make it out alive. Too many videos have exposed deadly outcomes for unarmed victims of police inquiries/arrests, which include running, tackling, kneeing, punching, beating, suffocating, shooting... and blood. It’s all too familiar in the “taking down” of black men and women. The fact that this incident took place on a very busy public street—might have been the very thing that saved his life. And that may be the worst part of this story.