‘It’s Alarming’: Michigan Cop Blamed ‘Too Many Minorities’ After Pepper-Spraying Two Young Black Men, Then the Video Blew Up Her Racist Excuse
A Michigan police chief blamed a “disproportionate number of minorities” coming into the community to commit crimes to justify police pepper spraying two Black friends within inches of their faces under false accusations in August. The Black men, Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods, both 22, were participating in Michigan State University’s Fall Welcome, a week-long series of events to welcome new students to the university when they were pepper sprayed and arrested by an overly aggressive cop who accused them of fighting. East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown, bottom left, is being sued along with another officer for pepper spraying two Black men who were friends, falsely accusing them of fighting with each other. (Photo: City of East Lansing and Dave's Hot Chicken) But Smith was actually trying to break up a squabble between Woods and another man outside Dave’s Hot Chicken in downtown East Lansing when they were both pepper sprayed by a cop who also pepper sprayed fellow cops and other citizens who had nothing to do with the squabble. Last week, the Black men filed a pair of lawsuits against the East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown for lying about what took place that night, despite being aware of video evidence that contradicted her claims. ‘Get Off Me!’: Former Black Marine Captain Body-Slammed by Military Police — Then Challenges Their Authority In a Move That Instantly Turns the Tables The lawsuits, obtained by Atlanta Black Star, also list East Lansing police officer Andrew Lyon as a defendant, the cop who was captured on surveillance video pepper spraying the two men at close range after the altercation had already been defused. Chief Brown then tried to justify Lyon’s actions to local media by blaming an influx of minorities attending Fall Welcome. “We have a very transient population, and over the last month, starting with Welcome Weekend, we have had a disproportionate number of minorities come into the community and commit crimes, and as police officers we are simply responding to those crimes,” Chief Brown told WLNS-TV. But the surveillance video from Dave’s Hot Chicken shows a group of young adults, both Black and white, male and female, who are laughing with each other as they await their turn to enter the restaurant. Then Woods begins exchanging words with another Black man with glasses but it was mostly talk with some minor pushing and shoving when a third Black man intervenes to hold Woods back in an attempt to defuse the altercation. Not a single punch was thrown by the time Smith walked across the street to help hold his friend back. But then the cops arrived and escalated the situation by pepper spraying the two men as well as others. “I got maced for no reason,” Smith is saying as he is handcuffed, according to body camera footage. “I was breaking the fight up.” “He was breaking it up,” said another man. Watch the video below. ‘Situation was Deescalating’ The incident took place on Aug. 24 at about 1:30 a.m. in downtown East Lansing in area with a vibrant nightlife within walking distance from the university. Smith and Woods, described as best friends in the lawsuits, were attending the festivities along with hundreds of other students. Smith, who the lawsuit says is a student at Michigan State University, had not been drinking that night. Woods, who is not described as a student, had been drinking like many other people that night. Woods was standing in line outside Dave’s Hot Chicken waiting for a bouncer to allow him inside when he got into an argument with another man in line but there is no sound on the video, so it’s not clear what they were arguing about. But judging by the reaction of the others in line, none who showed fear, it was nothing major. Smith, meanwhile, was standing across the street when he noticed the altercation, and ran across the street. The video shows him and the other Black man holding Woods back while the man he was arguing with remains standing, not showing aggression nor appearing threatened. “It was clear to everyone involved that the situation was deescalating and that Smith's role in it was that of a peacemaker, not an instigator,” states the lawsuits filed by their attorney, Jack W. Rucker of the Nova Law firm. "Smith has no criminal history and is not a troublemaker by any stretch of the definition," he said. "It is frankly appalling that the East Lansing Police Department feels so cavalier about dragging his name through the mud." That was when three East Lansing police officers who were standing about 50 feet away got involved with two of them grabbing Woods by each of his arms. The third officer was Lyon who walked up and pepper sprayed Smith before pepper spraying Woods as he was being restrained, according to the claim filed in federal court on November 6. Defendant Officer Lyon unholstered his city issued OC Pepper spray, reached over Officer Kingsbury's right shoulder, aimed it within 5 inches of Woods and Smith's face, and sprayed Smith directly in his eye. Defendant Officer Lyon then turned the spray directly into Woods's face at a similar distance and unleashed it upon the entire crowd. As individuals are trying to explain to Defendant Officer Lyon that spraying Smith and Woods was a mistake, footage from the scene shows multiple individuals, including police officers, still suffering from the lasting impacts of the pepper spray. An officer is seen wiping her eyes and another young woman, who was standing a couple feet away from Woods when the pepper spray was unleashed, is seen sitting up against the wall crying while her friend tries to comfort her. A month after the incident, the East Lansing Police Department issued a press release claiming they were the ones who defused the situation, falsely accusing Smith and Woods of fighting each other. Several ELPD officers responded to a crowd where they observed physical violence occurring between Smith and Woods. Officers issued multiple loud verbal commands in an effort to disperse the crowd and deescalate the situation. Despite these repeated lawful orders, Smith and Woods continued to ignore them and actively engage in physical altercations. In response to the violent commotion, an officer deployed Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray, a nonlethal tool designed to deescalate the disorder and halt further fighting. Both men were charged with disorderly conduct and fighting but charges were dismissed in October. The NAACP Lansing Branch has been calling for the chief's resignation over her racist comments. “From what Chief Brown said, a disproportionate number of minorities committing crimes, it’s alarming ... that she actually believes that," said Harold Pope, president of the NAACP Lansing Branch. “Everyone under her will work in that vein. When they go out to work, when a weekend happens, they’re focused, they’re targeted on minorities.” The data seems to support use of force is overwhelmingly used against African-Americans. According to WLNS, "the data for July show that 88% of people subjected to some form of use of force were identified as Black/African American. In June, that number was 55.5%. " The lawsuits accuses the defendants of violating the men’s Fourth Amendment rights through false arrest, excessive force and excessive detention as well as battery, slander and libel. “(Smith and Woods) at just twenty-two years-old, will have to spend the rest of (their lives) bearing the pain and trauma of that day and with the knowledge that the city (they) grew up in, the city that (they love), (view them) as nothing more than (minorities and criminals),” states each individual lawsuit.
