UNC Black Student Movement demands termination of police chief for 'assaulting' protestors
UNC’s Black Student Movement is now calling for Holland’s termination, claiming that he is a 'threat' to their 'safety.'
Holland was involved in clearing out protesters from a Board of Trustees vote on Nikole Hannah-Jones' tenure.
The Black Student Movement (BSM) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released a statement on their Twitter account demanding that Chief Officer Rahsheem Holland be terminated immediately.
The BSM’s statement reads, “The Black Student at UNC at Chapel Hill unequivocally condemns the promotion of Assistant Chief of Police, Rahsheem Holland, to the position of Interim UNC Campus Chief of Police in the wake of Chief Perry’s departure from the university. Not only does his pending promotion create a clear and present threat to the safety of Black students at UNC, but it further demonstrates the university’s commitment to the suffering of Black students and their comfortability with violence being perpetrated against us.”
Read our statement on the promotion of Rahsheem Holland as UNC Police Chief. pic.twitter.com/Lb0rsLL81a
— The Black Student Movement (@unc_bsm) July 6, 2021
At a recent board meeting, Trustees voted to venture into a closed session to discuss Nikole Hannah-Jones’ tenure application. Officers quickly ordered the media and public to clear the room, but some of the students disobeyed.
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Three campus officers, one being Officer Holland, moved toward a group of students that had decided to remain where they were not supposed to be. Holland and one other officer began pushing the students towards the door. The students were eventually pushed outside and the door was closed.
“You, Mr. Holland, are a threat to our safety,” Julia Clark, vice president of the Black Student Movement, yelled through a megaphone outside the doors of the meeting room. Clark also alleged that Holland punched her in the face, according to the News and Observer.
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When asked about potential repercussions for officers involved with the incident, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Integrity and Risk Management George Battle told Campus Reform that he has watched the videos of the incident from social media. Battle explained that the officers “followed protocol.”
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