Traffic stop of Delaware State University bus in Georgia gains national attention

By Craig Anderson
Posted 5/11/22

DOVER — The traffic stop of a bus transporting the Delaware State University women’s lacrosse team last month in Georgia was a topic of national discussion on Wednesday.

According to …

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Traffic stop of Delaware State University bus in Georgia gains national attention

Posted

DOVER — The traffic stop of a bus transporting the Delaware State University women’s lacrosse team last month in Georgia was a topic of national discussion on Wednesday.

According to university spokesman Carlos Holmes, Hornets head coach Pamella Jenkins was scheduled to appear on CNN, CBS and ESPN, while Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings appealed to the U.S. Department of Justice to review the matter.

The spotlight and concern stemmed from an incident April 20 where Liberty County Sheriff’s Office deputies stopped the charter bus on Interstate 95, then searched the passengers’ luggage after notifying them that marijuana possession was illegal in Georgia. The bus was initially stopped after it was seen traveling in the far left lane of the highway, which law enforcement said was an infraction.

Via a statement released Wednesday afternoon, DSU President Dr. Tony Allen expressed skepticism about statements made by Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman the previous day, along with concern about released body camera footage.

“I spoke with (Sheriff Bowman) on Tuesday and note his acknowledgment to me and at his press event of the historic concerns of African Americans in traffic stops with law enforcement,” Dr. Allen said.

“He even indicated an interest in reaching out to our lacrosse team for feedback to assist his department in improving its approach to people of color. I look forward to hearing from him exactly how he would like to proceed in that regard.”

Dr. Allen’s statement explained what he took issue with:

“Sheriff Bowman insists that personal items were not searched; the video clearly shows officers searching toiletries and clothes, and even cutting open a family graduation gift.

“Sheriff Bowman said the officers were unaware of the nature of the passengers on the bus; the audio clearly demonstrates that the officers were aware both that this was a busload of ‘schoolgirls,’ and that they did not expect to find anything other than marijuana, which the officer who entered the bus said they were not looking for.”

In closing, Dr. Allen said that, “It has become abundantly more clear that this incident must be investigated by objective, external authorities. We continue to push forward toward that objective.”

In a roughly six-minute press conference during which he took no questions, Sheriff Bowman said the bus was one of several commercial vehicles stopped that morning.

The sheriff’s office commercial interdiction detail included a K-9 due to the nature of its operations. An alert was given by the K-9 prior to deputies entering the bus, he said.

The sheriff said deputies were not aware that the occupants were associated with a historically Black university or aware of their race due to the height of the windows and the tint on the windows.

Once aboard, Sheriff Bowman said, a deputy informed the passengers that a search would be completed.

“This is the same protocol that is expected to be used no matter the race, gender, age or destination of the passengers,” he said. “No personal items on the bus or person were searched.”

Sheriff Bowman continued on, saying, “We realize that (in) this current environment even a traffic stop can be alarming to citizens, especially African Americans.”

Ultimately, the sheriff said, “We are happy that nothing was found and the passengers made it home safely.”

The stop came into the spotlight after it was detailed in an article written by sophomore lacrosse player Sydney Anderson. The online article in The Hornet Newspaper (dehornetonline.com) was published May 4.

The sheriff said that, “At the time of or even (in) the weeks following, we were not aware that this stop was received as racial profiling, although I do not believe that any racial profiling took place based on the information I currently have.”

In a letter to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clark, Ms. Jennings described the incident as “troubling” and “deserving of your attention.”

Also, she said, “I’m grateful that this is already on your office’s radar and for your commitment to review the facts and determine what next steps are appropriate.”

From the facts she’d received, “including several discussions with those impacted at Delaware State University,” Ms. Jennings said she was “deeply troubled by what occurred.”

According to Ms. Jennings, the stop “led to a slew of sheriff’s deputies searching virtually every bag belonging to student athletes who were returning home from their season finale.”

Ms. Jennings said she was told that “all the deputies were white, and almost everyone whose bags were searched is Black.”

The AG maintained that, “These students and coaches were not in the proverbial wrong place at the wrong time.

“They hail from one of the oldest and finest (historically Black colleges and universities) in the country. By all accounts these young women represented their school and our state with class — and they were rewarded with a questionable-at-best search through their belongings in an effort to find contraband that did not exist.

“Not only did the deputies find nothing illegal in the bags; they did not issue a single ticket for the alleged traffic infraction.”

Ms. Jennings indicated her belief that, after talking with officials, the United States Department of Justice and Georgia Attorney General’s Office planned to review the incident. She offered to assist the review “in any way possible.”

Along with a copy of the letter, Ms. Jennings issued a statement that read, in part, “I want to commend these outstanding young women (on the DSU lacrosse team) for their valor, and my fellow Delawareans for rallying around them.”

During an appearance on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” coach Jenkins, who was joined by player Saniya Craft, said she’s been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the public.

“I am so proud of the support that we’ve received and for those getting involved,” she said. “It’s our hope that this doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future.

“And this is the way that you bring about change and I think that’s why we are so adamant about talking about it is because we want to make sure that no one else has to go through what we went through on that day, to feel that way.

“And then just in the days after, just thinking about that traumatic experience. It’s our hope that ... we’ll be the last team that has experienced something like this.”

Coach Jenkins said she didn’t believe that the same thing would have happened if the bus were full of white lacrosse players “for the simple fact that before searching our bus, the police officer came on the bus and saw the demographic of our team.

“And when the word narcotics was brought up, he went straight to marijuana and you know, unfortunately, stereotypically that is a drug that is connected to African Americans. And he saw the demographic of our team he made that assumption. And I feel like ... he acted accordingly based off of the demographic that we are.”

Common Cause Delaware Executive Director Claire Snyder-Hall said in a statement, in part, “All across Delaware, people are outraged by the way some of our top student athletes were treated by Georgia law enforcement. ...

“We hope that this out-of-state incident will prompt our legislative leaders to take a new view of the need for police reform. These were Delaware’s college students, placed in a dangerous situation by police in another state. We are relieved that the situation ended without tragedy — it could have gone the other way, all too easily.

“It also, all-too-easily, could have happened here in Delaware. We need our General Assembly to start viewing police accountability and transparency as the crisis that it is.”

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