The entangled arrest of a College of New Jersey student is captured by amateur video [Click here to see the video].
According to Alex Zdan and James Queally of nj.com, amateur video of a local college student being arrested does not show any evidence of police brutality, despite the student's claim of "blatantly excessive force."
The video, obtained Wednesday by The Times, shows College of New Jersey student Michael Tracey on the ground and screaming as officers attempt to arrest him following a speech by political commentator Ann Coulter last week.
The partial video does not show Tracey being wrestled to the ground.
No violence is evident and Tracey is not struck in the footage, which begins with him already on the ground and officers kneeling over him.
One officer is leaning across Tracey, his shin over Tracey's neck as the officer and another cop try to pry Tracey's off the feet of a chair.
"Get off my head!" Tracey screams after a string of inaudible cries. "Get off my head!"
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The officers manage to pull Tracey's hands away and handcuff them behind his back.
Tracey is pulled to his feet, then two officers drag the bent student out the door as his legs go limp.
Applause can be heard at the end of the footage.
The 39-seconds of video comes as supporters of the junior political science major have formed a Facebook group with over 1,100 members, tagged college buildings with chalk, and have planned a demonstration on campus today.
"I think there was an overreaction by the security people, as far as I can tell," said political science professor Darryl Fair, who will be speaking at the rally.
Fair added he believes Tracey's civil rights were violated.
Tracey and his family maintain they want the charge of disorderly conduct that Tracey received to be dropped.
So far, Tracey has not filed a complaint with the township police department, whose Detectives Pat Holt and Jeffrey Jacobs made the arrest while working off-duty security.
The police report from that night says that Tracey went onto the stage, where Coulter was signing books.
After being advised the stage area was for those with books only, Tracey said he had a piece of paper and wanted an autograph.
"When he was told no, he went around two police officers and approached the table where Ann Coulter was sitting," Holt wrote.
Holt took Tracey off the stage and into the seating area, then told the student he was not allowed to go back to the stage and had to leave.
As Tracey walked back towards the stage, Holt grabbed Tracey's coat in an attempt to stop him, but said Tracey spun out of the coat and ran towards the seating area.
Tackling Tracey toward the ground, Holt attempted to handcuff Tracey, but the young man would not put his hands behind his back.
"At that point Michael started to scream and carry on in a manner in which he was trying to draw attention from the crowd," Holt wrote. "
Michael held on to one of the chairs in the seating area and would not let go. He was told to stop resisting the arrest several times, but refused to comply."
After Tracey released his grip, the report states he was cuffed, taken to the campus police station, processed, and released.
"It's a routine arrest for us," Lt. Gerald Jacobs said. "Our officers made this arrest and this gentleman has his day in court."
