To<\/b>: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Harvard University Community and the Broader Cambridge and Boston Community<\/p>\n
From<\/b>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Concerned Members of the Harvard Community<\/p>\n
Date<\/b>:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 April 14, 2018 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
Firstly, we recognize the broader political implications of this incident for all of our students, and the broader Boston community. However, out of respect for the privacy and needs of the victim and his family at this time, we are not contextualizing this event in the broader instances of police violence.<\/p>\n
Secondly, we must address the incorrect reports of the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) released today. On the evening of April 13th, a number of our current Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) members and admitted students witnessed a brutal instance of police violence at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Waterhouse Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A naked, unarmed Black man, stood still on the median at the center of Massachusetts Avenue across from Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church. He was surrounded by at least four Cambridge Police Department (CPD) officers who, without provocation, lunged at him, tackled him and pinned him to the ground. While on the ground, at least one officer repeatedly punched the student in his torso as he screamed for help. The officers held him to the ground until paramedics arrived, placed him on a stretcher, and put him in the ambulance. A pool of blood remained on the pavement as the ambulance departed. Shortly thereafter, firefighters came and cleaned up the blood with bleach and water.<\/p>\n
This victim of police violence happened to be a Harvard student. The University has ample resources that could have, and should have, been mobilized to come to the student\u2019s aid prior to CPD getting involved. Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) were the first to be called for help prior to the arrival of CPD. Instead of sending staff to support the student, HUHS transferred callers to CPD<\/b>, who then responded as police often do whether cameras are rolling or not — by failing to appropriately respond to the individual needs of the person concerned and resorting to violence unnecessarily and with impunity. By involving CPD, HUHS put this student at great risk of being killed by the police.<\/p>\n
Again, we are interested in protecting the privacy of this victim of police violence. We ask that those who know the victim\u2019s name not share it with others, that his name not be included in internal or external conversations about this incident and that, in response to this letter, our conversation be focused on the broader issues of police violence against Black and Brown people and the following demands, and not this particularized incident, which is a symptom of a larger, systemic problem.<\/p>\n
For Harvard University, HUHS, and HUPD:<\/p>\n
We demand that Harvard University create an internal crisis response team to support students, faculty, and staff that does not involve CPD.<\/p>\n
We likewise will require support from the school, fellow students and our instructors to put pressure on the CPD for the following.<\/p>\n
For the CPD:<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Additionally, we demand that CPD respect the rights of civilians recording police conduct. The CPD policy recognizes that \u2018individuals have the right<\/b> under the First Amendment to openly record<\/b> police activity in public in a peaceful<\/i> manner\u2019 and that \u2018[o]fficers 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 . . . .\u2019 It was clear to our Harvard BLSA members that CPD officers were not following these procedures. But for our members\u2019 persistence in defying police attempts to obstruct videotaping this incident, there would be no record.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For any information on the case, please contact Professor Umunna or Professor Sullivan at the Criminal Justice Institute (CJI) at (617) 496-8143. For any further media inquiries regarding this response, please contact hblsapresident@gmail.com or 2017-2018 HBLSA President Jazzmin Carr (601.937.0665) and 2018-2019 HBLSA President Lauren Williams (631.942.5211).<\/p>\n
Sincerely,<\/p>\n
The Undersigned Student Organizations from Harvard University and Beyond<\/p>\n
The Harvard Black Law Students Association
\nHGSE QueerEd
\nAfrica Caucus, Harvard Kennedy School
\nHLS National Lawyers Guild
\nHarvard Law School’s Mississippi Delta Project
\nGraduate School of Design African American Student Union
\nHarvard Journal of Law and Gender
\nHarvard Law School HALT
\nHarvard Black Students Association
\nHarvard African Law Association
\nHarvard Law School Muslim Law Students Association
\nHarvard Defenders
\nWomen of Color Collective at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
\nW.E.B Du Bois Graduate Society
\nAffinity Group Coalition
\nHLS Forum
\nBlack Student Ministries at the Memorial Church of Harvard University
\nBlack Graduate Ministries at Harvard
\nAmanda Lee & Amanda Chan, Student Government President & VP at Harvard Law School
\nQueer Trans People of Color (HLS QTPOC)
\nBlack Student Health Organization at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health
\nFood Law Society of Harvard Law School
\nHarvard Medical School Class of 2021 Student Council
\nHLS Lambda
\nHarvard Graduate School of Education Black Student Union
\nRacial Justice Coalition at Harvard Medical School
\nHLS Progressive Jewish Alliance
\nCampaign for Political Equality at Harvard Law School
\nHarvard Medical School Student National Medical Association
\nStudent National Medical Association- Harvard Chapter
\nBLSA at the University at Buffalo School of Law
\nChair of the Northeast Black Law Students Association
\nHarvard Jewish Law Students Association
\nFordham University School of Law\u2019s Black Law Students Association
\nHLS Chapter \u2013 American Constitution Society
\nSouth Asian Law Students Association (SALSA)
\nUniversity at Buffalo Black Law Student Association
\n2018 Class Marshals at Harvard Law School
\nNew York Law School Black Law Students Association
\nHarambee: Students of African Descent at Harvard Divinity School
\nCornell Black Law Students Association
\nTouro Law Center BLSA
\nAfrica Business Club, A Student Club of Harvard Business School
\nAlbany Law School Black Law Students Association
\nHBS Leadership and Human Capital Club
\nHarvard GSE African Education Initiative
\nHarvard Women’s Law Association
\nThe Organizing Committee of HGSU-UAW
\nBerkeley Law Students of African Descent
\nMIT Sloan Black Business Student Association
\nGeorgetown University Law Center, Black Law Students Association
\nWomen\u2019s Student Association at Harvard Business School
\nHarvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
\nWomen of Color Collective at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
\nHarvard Pakistan Student Group
\nNorthwestern Pritzker School of Law BLSA
\nHarvard Kennedy School Muslim Caucus
\nEquity and Inclusion Fellows, Harvard Graduate School of Education
\nGlobal South Dialogue Harvard Law Student Association
\nHarvard GSAS Action Coalition (Graduate School of Arts and Sciences)
\nKuumba Singers of Harvard College
\nHSPH Muslim Student Association
\nHSPH Middle East and North Africa Student Association
\nLa Alianza from Harvard Law School
\nBlack Student Health Organization
\nNYU Law Black allied Law Students Association (BALSA)
\nHLS Homelessness Coalition
\nHarvard Asian Pacific American Law Students Association
\nThe African American Student Union, a Student Club of Harvard Business School
\nHLS Tenant Advocacy Project
\nBlack Management Association, Kellogg School of Management
\nThe Black Law Students Association at The University of Connecticut School of Law
\nHarvard Asia Law Society
\nHarvard African Law Association
\nHarvard Black Graduate Student Alliance
\nMIT GSC Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee (DIS)
\nHarvard Graduate School of Education Black Student Union
\nHarvard Prison Legal Assistance Project
\nHispanic Business Club
\nMIT Sloan Africa Business Club
\nHLS Pipeline Parity Project
\nHarvard Legal Aid Bureau
\nThe Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS) at Stern
\nWharton African American MBA Association
\nBlack Business Students Association, Columbia Business School
\nThe Harvard Law School Reparatory Justice Initiative (RJI)
\nAdvocates for Education at Harvard Law School
\nBlack Alumni of Dartmouth Association
\nLatino Law Students Association at the University of Connecticut
\nLaw Students of African Descent at Berkeley Law
\nPace Law School BLSA
\nTeachers College Student Senate Diversity Committee at Columbia University
\nUniversity of Virginia School of Law Black Law Students Association
\nBrooklyn Law School Black Law Students Association
\nPalestine@MIT
\nTemple Black Law Students Association
\nChild and Youth Advocates at Harvard Law School
\nHLS ACLU
\nBlack Business Association at the Tepper School of Business
\nCornell University SC Johnson Black Graduate Business Association<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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