Local and out-of-town residents have joined Northwestern students in questioning what they call the overly aggressive behavior of at least two University Police officers after Saturday night’s football game.
No one claiming injury by an officer had filed a complaint with UP as of Tuesday afternoon, although one witness has come forward, said Asst. Chief Daniel McAleer of UP. But a student arrested Saturday said Tuesday he still plans to complain to both UP and the Office of Student Affairs.
Evanston resident Sandip Mody, 24 — part of the crowd that rushed Ryan Field after NU’s victory against Ohio State — said he visited the emergency room of Evanston Hospital, 2650 Ridge Ave., after an officer “yanked” him from the goalpost. He said he hit his head so hard he didn’t recognize where he was after the fall.
In the days following Saturday’s game, several students have reported either being roughly pulled from goalposts by UP officers or witnessing officers pull down fellow fans. Others have complained that officers dragged students from the field with undue cause.
McAleer maintained Tuesday that he is “confident” UP officers, who are well-trained in the appropriate use of force, “acted properly” in their duty to control the large crowd.
Mody, whose CAT scan and X-rays showed no serious injuries, admitted he got caught up in the crowd’s excitement and thought it wrong to climb the goalpost. But, he said, the officer grabbed him instead of just telling him to get down.
“I knew he was going to force me to get off,” Mody said Tuesday. “I didn’t know he was going to grab me and I would just fall off. I thought his tactic was unprofessional.”
Season-ticket holder Neil Cablk traveled about an hour from Naperville, Ill., to see the game. Cablk, 37, said he saw an officer roughly drag a student along the ground, then later violently tackle another student, who he now believes could be Communication senior James Kapner.
“I thought it was over, and all of a sudden this policeman comes charging out of the tunnel and tackles this guy so hard I can hear the splat,” Cablk said. “It seemed to me to be much more severe than what was in the article (published in Monday’s Daily).”
Cablk said he was too far away to hear any words exchanged between officers and students, but said from what he saw, “the voracity of which this policeman reacted was, to me, inappropriate.”
Kapner, who was charged Saturday with grabbing two officers and resisting arrest, said Monday he was shoved, tackled and choked by UP officers Saturday night. He said he plans to complain to both the Office of Student Affairs and UP.
Complaints must come from victims, not witnesses, McAleer said.
“If someone has information that would lead us to another conclusion, we hope they’ll come forward,” McAleer said.
McCormick junior Thomas Hines, who said Monday he saw a student “violently pulled” from the goalpost by a UP officer, contacted UP to file a complaint. Hines said he was turned away because he was told he was “not the victim of the abuse.”
Hines said he is trying to contact Education senior Jeff Wilson, the student Hines believes he saw victimized Saturday night, so the two can visit UP together.
But to Medill freshman Steve Silver, one of the first students on the field after the game, calling the officers’ tactics too aggressive is a tough call.
Silver said he saw officers “tackling our students” and himself was “blindsided” by security staff, but his many experiences at professional football games kept him relatively unfazed.
“People have been talking about it a lot — were they out of line?” Silver said. “It’s tough. But you’ve got what, 5,000 kids running right at you? They have to do something.”
Reach Marissa Conrad at [email protected].
