ISG condemns Purdue University police brutality
ISG candidates on the debate stage in the Illini Union Courtyard Café on Mar. 3, 2020. The ISG has released a statement in regards to the police brutality incident at Purdue.
February 15, 2022
On Feb. 4, Adonis Tuggle, a Black student at Purdue University, was met with excessive force during an arrest by a school police officer. A video of the arrest surfaced online and gained attention nationwide.
In the arrest video, Tuggle was shown on the ground with John Selke kneeling on top of him. Selke refused to move after Tuggle’s girlfriend tried to intervene.
The Illinois Student Government released a statement Feb. 11 standing in “solidarity” with Tuggle and condemning Selke’s behavior.
“We wanted to express our sympathy anguish that this happened to Adonis because we know nothing will happen to make this go away and this will always be with him,” said Enoma Egiebor, junior in AHS and ISG president.
ISG said that this was “an act of invasive, anti-Black police brutality.”
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According to the Purdue University crime log, Tuggle was arrested for resisting law enforcement around 8:30 p.m.
Tuggle was having an argument with his girlfriend when Selke arrived at the scene.
“Without even talking to me, this man punched (me) multiple times, elbowed me in the face, smothered my face in the snow and even (choked) me multiple (times) and not once (stopped),” Tuggle said in a group chat message.
The Purdue University Police department did an internal review led by Deputy Chief Lesley Wiete.
In their statement, ISG called for Selke and the Purdue Deputy Chief Wiete to be fired, as well as “monetary reparations” distributed by Purdue University and West Lafayette police department to Tuggle and his girlfriend.
Selke was placed on leave, according to Purdue University’s student newspaper.
“There’s nothing that can be done to change Adonis’s pain, but placing (Selke) on leave doesn’t go far enough,” Egiebor said.
ISG supported the statement issued by the Purdue Student Government.
“Big Ten Universities have shown time and time again that they are not safe places for Black students and community members,” the statement said.
Egiebor has been in contact with the student body president of Purdue along with several other student body presidents of Big Ten schools regarding the incident. Egiebor and ISG will continue to reach out and extend help to Purdue.
“We demand an end to racist police brutality at Purdue, at (Illinois) and for our whole country,” the ISG statement said.
Egiebor and ISG are hoping that the University will address the incident.
“The University should speak out about this (incident) because not only did this happen on a university campus, but it happened to a peer institution and students here are concerned,” Egiebor said.
