Four University of South Florida students were arrested Monday during a demonstration against Gov. Ron DeSantis, with protesters alleging that police used excessive force to unjustly detain them.
On March 6, USF’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a protest opposing DeSantis’ ongoing campaign against racial justice and diversity programs, as well as mentions of LGBTQ+ topics and people in public schools. The protest especially targeted Florida’s HB 999, pending legislation which broadly attacks racial and gender diversity initiatives in schools.
Students assembled shortly after noon on Monday and marched from the Marshall Student Center to the Patel Center for Global Solutions, a one-mile trek across campus roads, demanding to meet with university President Rhea Law about protecting marginalized students. According to the Tampa Bay Times, police first approached the protesters outside and instructed them not to use megaphones, an order with which they complied.
After occupying the Patel Center, however, SDS organizers say many of their members were abruptly and “unjustly brutalized” by USFPD. According to a public statement posted to social media, organizers say police “slammed protesters against the ground and on walls, sat on them, pulled their hair, pulled, shoved and scratched students, and placed protesters in choke holds.” The statement also alleges that some officers “inappropriately handled and groped” students.
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Police claim they were attacked first with “objects” including a video camera and an “unidentified liquid," though police have not released video footage to corroborate these claims. Videos taken by protesters, however, appear to show police using unprovoked excessive force to detain and arrest students. One video posted to the group’s Twitter account shows a USFPD officer grabbing a student and wrestling them against a wall before wrapping their arm around the student’s neck, clearly applying a chokehold. (As of 2021, Florida statutes mandate that chokeholds only be used by police in case of “immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death” to themselves or another person.)
Other videos appear to show officers piling onto a student on a sidewalk outside the building as others scream “let her go,” and USFPD Chief Christopher Daniel abruptly grabbing a student by the arm to forcibly remove them from the building. As the student attempts to pull away, Daniel appears to tighten his grab and pull harder. In 2020, Daniel was the defendant in a lawsuit alleging he was frequently misogynistic and “demeaning” towards women at work, even hanging a stuffed Miss Piggy doll in effigy in his office; the lawsuit was dismissed in 2021 but is pending appeal.
Them has reached out to both SDS and USFPD for comment.
USF administration and police have had a contentious relationship with the university’s student body for years. In 2020, students protested the school’s decision to allow pro-Trump activist Kaitlin Bennett (known online as the “Kent State Gun Girl”) to visit campus and film for a right-wing media platform; USFPD was on hand to form a line between Bennett and the protesters. USFPD also arrested SDS protesters in 2021 after DeSantis-backed legislation increased criminal penalties for political protests.
Following Monday’s arrests, four SDS members were arrested and charged with several felonies and misdemeanors, including trespassing assault or battery of law enforcement. All four have been released on bail but are still facing the charges as well as possible suspension, according to SDS’s statement. The group plans to hold another protest on campus March 9, calling on the administration to drop the charges and address their initial concerns about DeSantis’ overreach.
“Brutality from USFPD is not new or unprecedented,” organizers wrote. “We as SDS continue to demand an end to USFPD’s violent reputation of attacks on students and protestors.”
The USF protests are just one front of many in the pitched battle between Florida students and the DeSantis administration. After championing legislation to restrict or prohibit Black history and LGBTQ+ topics in schools and universities, DeSantis has ramped up his attacks on education this year; the governor oversaw a hostile takeover of the New College of Florida board and presidency in February, and has ordered schools to report data about transgender people who receive gender-affirming care at school medical centers. High school and college students have staged walkouts across the state in protest, including united protests at six universities this February.
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