The University of Virginia student who was injured during his arrest by state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents for public intoxication on Wednesday may not have been intoxicated after all. Officials are now asking whether the agency that detained him needs to be reformed.
Martese Johnson, a 20-year-old black student, was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice as well as public intoxication after his ID was rejected at a pub in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday. Agents allegedly smashed his head into the pavement while trying to handcuff him, causing a wound that reportedly required 10 stitches.
Marcus Martin, UVA's chief officer for diversity and equity, told CNN that a test of Johnson's blood alcohol level at the time indicated that Johnson was not intoxicated.
Martin also said that Johnson had tried to use an Illinois ID to get into the pub, not a fake ID, as has been reported. Johnson is from Chicago.
Martese pic.twitter.com/d5mVucdm64— Joel D. Anderson (@byjoelanderson) March 19, 2015
Virginia lawmakers have also questioned why ABC agents are focused on arresting underage drinkers when they could be monitoring bars and restaurants to make sure those establishments aren't serving alcohol to underage people.
State Del. David Albo (R-Springfield) told The Washington Post that he wished ABC agents would "get back to enforcing regulatory alcohol law and get away from hanging outside of grocery stores busting 20-year-olds for buying beer."
That's exactly what several of ABC plainclothes officials were trying to do at a grocery store near UVA in 2013 when they approached a group of friends including UVA Student Elizabeth Daly. Daly, 20 at the time, was in her car after she and her friends bought ice cream, cookie dough and some canned sparkling water, which the officers apparently mistook for beer.
The agents flashed badges that Daly said she couldn't see in the dark. She turned on her car to roll down the window, but said the officers began to shout at her to keep the car parked. One drew a gun and another tried to smash a car window with a flashlight. Daly drove away, grazing two officers, and was arrested on three felony charges which were later dropped.
The debacle resulted in a lawsuit in which Daly took home $212,500, and the ABC said it would change 14 of its policies as a result.
One of those policies states that ABC agents "have received and will continue to receive training in how to recognize and react to situations that might require de-escalation."
Another says that, through training, "ABC will promote a reasonable, common-sense philosophy regarding the correlation between the seriousness of an offense and the agents' response, ensuring the response is proportional to the suspected offense." Both of those policies are likely to be questioned after Johnson's recent arrest, given the alleged brutality.
Another policy update says "Agents will be issued point-of-view cameras to be worn during operations," though the definition of an "operation" is unclear. The Virginia ABC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that subject.
Virginia State Police led an investigation into the 2013 incident, and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has asked the state police to investigate Johnson's arrest as well.