I can no longer stand by while the good men and women of the University’s Police Department are assaulted, both literally and figuratively.
Recently, individuals who identify with the organization Silence Sam have made numerous false allegations via social media stating that UNC Police have:
1) protected a violent racist who called for “lone wolf” attacks against UNC (we don’t pick sides on this issue or any other– freedom of speech does not apply only to the things you agree with),
2) lied under oath to get an anti-racist undergraduate sentenced to jail time (just because a defense attorney makes a claim in response to a guilty verdict does not mean the claim is true; in fact the validity of the officer’s testimony has been reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office and determined to have been truthful),
3) fabricated charges against an anti-racist graduate student (charges are often dropped prior to adjudication for various reasons, in this case the Assistant District Attorney simply felt that there was not sufficient evidence to achieve a conviction– not that the charges were false),
4) allowed armed white supremacists to wander campus for a full hour before shaking their hands and letting them leave without consequence (once UNC Police Officers were made aware of this situation, they immediately responded, made contact with the individuals, and escorted them off of the campus — the person who had a handgun in plain sight has been trespassed from campus).
I was disappointed, though unfortunately not surprised, to learn that some of these false allegations have been included in a petition for submission to the Faculty Executive Committee. Repeating false allegations does not make them true.
The only “crime” UNC Police has committed is to have desperately attempted to keep the peace and prevent people from hurting each other. These intentional, slanderous fabrications are an attempt to recruit for a cause that for some may have begun as an anti-racism campaign, but has now devolved into a concerted effort focused on the opposition to, and destruction of, all forms of campus authority.
Jeff McCracken
