The Yale cop who pulled a gun on an African-American undergraduate and forced him to the ground — because he allegedly matched the description of a burglar who was later caught — is African-American himself.
Three Yale officials—President Peter Salovey, Police Chief Ronnell Higgins, and Dean Jonathan Holloway—confirmed that fact in an email message sent to the Yale community Monday night.
The trio called for the community to “reflect” on the incident, which has provoked criticism nationwide since it occurred on Saturday. It became national news because the student, Tahj Blow, is the son of New York Times op-ed columnist and racial-profiling critic Charles Blow, who tweeted and then wrote a Times article about it.
Salovey, Higgins and Holloway reported that Yale police are conducting an internal investigation into why the officer drew his gun on Tahj Blow.
At the same time, the trio wrote that the cop had “reason” to stop Tahj because his appearance, including his clothing, allegedly matched that of the suspect.
“What happened on Cross Campus on Saturday is not a replay of what happened in Ferguson; Staten Island; Cleveland; or so many other places in our time and over time in the United States. The officer, who himself is African American, was responding to a specific description relayed by individuals who had reported a crime in progress,” they wrote.
“Even though the officer’s decision to stop and detain the student may have been reasonable, the fact that he drew his weapon during the stop requires a careful review. For this reason, the Yale Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit is conducting a thorough and expeditious investigation of the circumstances surrounding the incident, and will report the findings of that investigation to us. We, in turn, will share the findings with the community. We ask that you allow us the time needed to collect and examine the facts from everyone involved.”
Click here to read the full email message.
Earlier versions of this story follow:
Columnist’s Son Was Forced To Ground At Gunpoint
A Yale cop ordered a black student to the ground at gunpoint because he allegedly “matched” a description of a burglary suspect.
That’s the word from Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist known for criticizing racial profiling.
In this case Blow is talking about his son Tahj, a Yale undergraduate biology major.
Charles Blow brought the incident, which occurred late Saturday afternoon, to national attention over the weekend with a series of Tweets.
Now he has fleshed out the story. What bothered him, Blow writes in a column in Monday’s Times, isn’t that his son was stopped. But how he was stopped.
Tahj tells what happened through his father in the column.
He was leaving the library around 5:45 p.m. and in the vicinity of Trumbull College, a Yale dorm. Yale police were in the area looking for a suspect—a black man “wearing a black jacket and a red and white hat,” according to the university. Believing Tahj Blow fit the description, an officer followed him.
Here’s what happened next, according to his dad’s column:
“I faced forward again, presuming that the officer was not talking to me. I then heard him say, ‘Hey, turn around!’ — which I did.
“The officer raised his gun at me, and told me to get on the ground.
“At this point, I stopped looking directly at the officer, and looked down towards the pavement. I dropped to my knees first, with my hands raised, then laid down on my stomach.
“The officer asked me what my name was. I gave him my name.
“The officer asked me what school I went to. I told him Yale University.
“At this point, the officer told me to get up.”
The officer gave his name, then asked my son to “give him a call the next day.” …
“I got up slowly, and continued to walk back to my room. I was scared. My legs were shaking slightly. After a few more paces, the officer said, ‘Hey, my man. Can you step off to the side?’ I did.”
The officer asked him to turn around so he could see the back of his jacket. He asked his name again, then, finally, asked to see my son’s ID. My son produced his school ID from his wallet.
The officer asked more questions, and my son answered. All the while the officer was relaying this information to someone over his radio.
My son heard someone on the radio say back to the officer “something to the effect of: ‘Keep him there until we get this sorted out.’ ” The officer told my son that an incident report would be filed, and then he walked away.
Left out of the Yale account and the Blow account is whether in fact Tahj Blow fit the description. Was he wearing a hat? Tahj Blow declined to elaborate when contacted by the Independent. Yale said it might have more details to report later this week after completing an investigation.
Another question that remains unanswered is the race of the police officer.
Charles Blow wrote that he did not object to police stopping to question his son if he indeed matched the suspect’s description.
“School is his community, his home away from home, and he would have appreciated reasonable efforts to keep it safe. The stop is not the problem; the method of the stop is the problem,” Blow wrote.
“Why was a gun drawn first? Why was he not immediately told why he was being detained? Why not ask for ID first?
“What if my son had panicked under the stress, having never had a gun pointed at him before, and made what the officer considered a “suspicious” movement? Had I come close to losing him? Triggers cannot be unpulled. Bullets cannot be called back.
An earlier version of this story follows:
Blow Back
Yale police stopped “at gunpoint” a black undergraduate whose father happens to be a leading national voice against racial profiling. After the father started tweeting, the university started investigating.
The incident occurred Saturday.
It involved the son of New York Times op-ed columnist and Fire Shut Up In My Bones author Charles Blow (pictured).
“So, my son, a 3rd year chem major at Yale was just accosted — at GUN POINT — by a Yale policeman bc he ‘fit the description” of a suspect…’” Charles Blow tweeted. (He later corrected the Tweet: His son majors in biology.)
“He was let go when they realized he was a college student and not a criminal ( he was leaving the library!) He’s shaken, but I’m fuming!”
“This is exactly why I have NO PATIENCE for ppl trying to convince me that the fear these young blk men feel isn’t real #RacialBattleFatigue”
Four hours later, Blow tweeted: “I’m still trying to calm myself down…”
Yale responded with a prompt and unusually detailed official response Saturday night. It read:
“Earlier this evening, Yale police responded to emergency calls from undergraduates in Trumbull College, one of twelve residential colleges on the Yale campus. Several students reported that an individual had just entered their rooms under false pretenses, pretending to be looking for someone. Students in Trumbull College have been the victims of burglary this week, and a person matching the physical description of the individual, as well as the story of ‘looking for someone’ has been seen several times in the college. (See this report from the Yale Daily News.)
“Tonight, when students spotted him, they called police and described him as a tall, African-American, college-aged student wearing a black jacket and a red and white hat. This was the description that Yale police used as they converged on Trumbull and attempted to track down the suspect. During the efforts to locate and detain the suspect, a Yale College student, who closely matched the description of the suspect, was briefly detained and released by Yale police. The suspect, who was seen fleeing Trumbull College, was arrested shortly thereafter in Berkeley College (a residential college adjacent to Trumbull College) and will be charged with felony burglaries.
“An internal review of the incident will be conducted by the YPD Chief’s office.”
Reached by email, Blow’s son said he does not wish to make a statement at this time.