A Georgia State University professor called the campus police on two students that were late to an English class after they refused her order to leave the classroom. Carissa Gray of Georgia State University is no longer teaching in-person classes after one student, Bria Blake, published a TikTok video sharing the story of the exchange.
Blake said both students, Kamryn and Taylor, told their teacher that they “paid to be here” and also would not leave regardless of the teacher’s persistence, according to the video. Gray after that left the area and also reentered “with two armed police officers,” Blake said. Kamryn and Taylor, who are both black, cried when they saw the officers “because they were so terrified of what could happen to them,” according to Blake.
“Time and time again, we’ve seen the police being weaponized against black people,” Blake said. “Calling the police on two students for being two minutes late to class is extremely unreasonable and dangerous.”
“Stuff like this cannot keep happening to black youth in America. Stop weaponizing the police against black people.”
The college said it was exploring the incident.
“We are looking into this matter and how it was handled by the faculty member,” a GSU statement read Thursday. “Campus police arrived after being called by the faculty member and immediately de-escalated the situation between the students and faculty member. Clearly, no crime had been committed, so there were no arrests.”
“The provost and police chief are planning to meet with the affected students. The professor is no longer teaching in-person classes this semester,’ a spokesperson told DailyMail.com.”
According to NBC, “Georgia State University does have policies against “disruptive behavior” in the classroom, according to its student code of conduct. The school policy states that an instructor may summon campus police to remove a student whose behavior “poses an immediate threat to the safety” of themself, the instructor or other students.”
The university provost and also police principal both reportedly met the affected students.
Neither the University of Arts, under which Gray is employed, nor the provost’s office reacted to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
