Hundreds of students staged a sit-in at Jackson State University’s dining hall Wednesday to show support for a fellow student they said was treated unfairly arrested by campus police.
The initial incident occurred Sunday evening when a student purchased a meal just as the cafeteria was preparing to close, Assistant Chief of Campus Security Lindsey Horton said.
[quote_box_center]”The entire incident would not have occurred if the student had the time to consume his meal,” Horton said. “Frustration led him to act out in a disorderly fashion to the extent that the officer felt he needed to make an arrest for the safety of those around them.”[/quote_box_center]
Horton said the student has expressed remorse for his actions, which he said were “very inconsistent” for his normal behavior.The officer is also under an on-going investigation, Horton said, adding that “there is a certain level of treatment you’d expect from both sides.”
Students peacefully participated in a sit-in Wednesday evening to express concern of a matter of food service concerns, namely the lack of to-go containers, Horton said. Horton said the decision to clear the dining hall is a “matter of logistics.”
“At some point your dishwashers and waitresses have to clean up and prepare for the next day,” Horton said. “They need to tweak it a little bit. Some things are complaint driven and they do not fall on deaf ears.”
Jackson State spokesperson Olivia Goodheart said the student-based food service committee was looking into adjusting certain polices regarding the cafeteria.
“We expect to be held to a certain level of accountability and we expect a level of mutual respect,” Horton said. “This was an isolated incident and we’re treating it as such.”
Contact Jacob Threadgill at 601-961-7192 or jthreadgil@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @JacoboLaSombra on Twitter.
This article was originally published at the Clarion Ledger
