DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — The police body camera footage in a protest at North Carolina Central University earlier this year that led to five arrests has been released to the public, a nonprofit organization said Thursday.
Student said the protest on April 16 was prompted by campus living conditions, such as mold and air conditioners not working properly in residence halls.
According to university officials, the protest was not authorized and was attended by people not affiliated with NCCU. However, officials acknowledged four of the five people arrested had NCCU affiliations: history professor Daniel Cole Atwood and students Jose Andres Estrella, Moriah Alexis Flowers, and Makaila Nicole Tinsley.
Court records show Tinsley is facing a felony charge of assault with physical injury on a law enforcement officer. The rest are charged with misdemeanor offenses, including resisting a public officer.
According to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the four affiliated with NCCU sought access to the full body camera footage in Durham County Superior Court. Atwood, Estrella, and Flowers were represented by the coalition and Tinsley was represented by Emancipate NC.
On June 11, according to the coalition, Judge Michael J. O’Foghludha ruled the full footage must be released to the four affiliated with the university and there would be no restrictions on how it could be shared or used publicly.
Coalition representatives said they made the footage publicly available on Thursday after receiving it.
“This is a significant win for transparency, accountability, and our clients’ right to tell their side of the story,” said Dominique Erney, the counsel for Justice System Reform at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, in a statement. “The public deserves to see what really happened during a peaceful demonstration on a public campus about student housing conditions—an issue of obvious and urgent public concern.
“We are pleased the court recognized police bodycam footage belongs to the people and its release is necessary for a fair and informed public discourse,” Erney continued in her statement.
Emancipate NC Executive Director Dawn Blagrove said in a statement, “The order making the video in this case public is a win for accountability and transparency. Our client and the students of NCCU have a right to exercise their constitutional right to gather and protest. We will continue to stand and fight against suppression of the people’s voice, wherever authoritarianism rears its head.”
