We demand that Chancellor Folt call on District Attorney Jim Woodall, the police, and the State Bureau of Investigation to drop the charges, end investigations, and lift "no trespass" orders levied against the 25 UNC anti-racist protesters.
There has been overwhelming local and national support for the actions of UNC anti-racist protestors, including from our student government leaders, over 400 UNC Black faculty members, and many UNC academic departments and student groups. Only by calling for an end to criminal proceedings against us can Chancellor Folt begin to join her community on the right side of history.
We demand that Chancellor Folt forbid police from carrying guns, chemical weapons, and tasers to protests on UNC's campus, and that she issue a statement condemning police excessive use of force against students.
In the past month, police have thrown us through the air and onto the ground. They have put us in chokeholds so we couldn't breathe, and told us they didn't care when we begged them to stop. They have manhandled us, carrying our terrified bodies through the air and then cynically charging us with resisting arrest. During one white supremacist demonstration, police, without warning, deployed pepper spray against students and the media. During another, police held tasers to protestors' throats. During another, one officer reached for his gun. Anti-racist protestors know we are not safe while police are armed, and expect UNC Administration to speak out against what has happened to us.
We demand that Chancellor Folt ban the UNC Police Department's collaboration with violent police agitators.
During recent white supremacist demonstrations, we have been harmed by police from as far away as Asheville, Wilmington, and Greensboro, and as close as Chapel Hill. Greensboro Police were particularly violent towards us. Their commander deployed pepper spray against us for no reason, and acted with such excessive violence that we saw him being held back by fellow officers. Far from apologizing, Greensboro Police congratulated themselves on a job well done. We know that the only "outside agitators" on our campus are those UNC Police themselves are inviting. This has to end.
We demand that Chancellor Folt prohibit any further coordination between UNC (including UNC Police) and white supremacist groups (including ACTBAC, Oath Keepers, and CSA II).
During the past two white supremacist demonstrations at UNC, we have seen UNC Police close the Morehead Planetarium parking lot to everyone except white supremacists, and then escort the white supremacists onto and off of our campus, protecting them by hitting us with their bikes and bodies. We have bruised and bled. We will not accept police protecting white supremacists and attacking students.
We demand that Chancellor Folt stop the persecution of anti-racist protesters, including the use of surveillance and undercover infiltration techniques.
During last year’s student occupation of Silent Sam, UNC Police deployed an undercover officer to surveil anti-racist protestors who had been threatened by white supremacists. FOIA records have shown that plain-clothes police have also been deployed at several protests and on-campus anti-racist events and gatherings. Police showed up at one UNC student defendant’s academic department and demanded that staff hand over information about him, in violation of the law. We condemn the harassment and intimidation of UNC anti-racist protestors.