Spring Break
EDITORIAL: Arrest without a warrant
Editorial | 4/15/08
Posted online at 2:17 AM EST on 4/15/08
It's been more than two weeks since University and Waltham officers arrested Rashad Baldwin '11 and Walaa Sbeit '08 on charges of disorderly conduct, and this page is struggling to understand the officers' handling of the situation. The reports don't add up, and that's troubling. Particularly when arrests are involved, police need to be able to account, in detail, for their actions.
Reports from campus and Waltham police sources cited variously: a mass of some 50 students yelling and running amok outside; 15 people fleeing down South Street; and a fight in progress when officers arrived on-scene. Yet the Waltham Police insists that Mr. Baldwin was subverting officers' attempts to disperse the mob by standing in an open doorway, preventing students from leaving.
The police are telling us that there was a half-a-hundred-strong swarm of rabblers outside, complete with students fleeing in all directions and an assault happening right under their noses, but that Mr. Baldwin blocked traffic by standing in a doorway. Presumably, the police would be a lot more concerned with the bristling masses outside than the lagging partiers inside. These contradictions are disturbing
Mr. Baldwin also reportedly snubbed an officer's repeated commands to leave the premises. But Mr. Callahan tells us that Mr. Baldwin wasn't the only individual that the police "repeatedly" ordered off the grounds, and he certainly wasn't the only one who was noncompliant.
Finally, the Waltham arrest report describes how Mr. Baldwin goaded on the already-stirred crowd by starting chants of "Fuck the police" and "Fuck you pigs." But not one witness this paper spoke to could back that up.
This page is wary. We aren't saying that Waltham officers were wrong to cuff Mr. Baldwin, but we aren't saying they were right either. The fact is, the officials' stories don't coalesce the way they should, and this page can't iron out exactly why Mr. Baldwin in particular should have been arrested.
Reports from campus and Waltham police sources cited variously: a mass of some 50 students yelling and running amok outside; 15 people fleeing down South Street; and a fight in progress when officers arrived on-scene. Yet the Waltham Police insists that Mr. Baldwin was subverting officers' attempts to disperse the mob by standing in an open doorway, preventing students from leaving.
The police are telling us that there was a half-a-hundred-strong swarm of rabblers outside, complete with students fleeing in all directions and an assault happening right under their noses, but that Mr. Baldwin blocked traffic by standing in a doorway. Presumably, the police would be a lot more concerned with the bristling masses outside than the lagging partiers inside. These contradictions are disturbing
Mr. Baldwin also reportedly snubbed an officer's repeated commands to leave the premises. But Mr. Callahan tells us that Mr. Baldwin wasn't the only individual that the police "repeatedly" ordered off the grounds, and he certainly wasn't the only one who was noncompliant.
Finally, the Waltham arrest report describes how Mr. Baldwin goaded on the already-stirred crowd by starting chants of "Fuck the police" and "Fuck you pigs." But not one witness this paper spoke to could back that up.
This page is wary. We aren't saying that Waltham officers were wrong to cuff Mr. Baldwin, but we aren't saying they were right either. The fact is, the officials' stories don't coalesce the way they should, and this page can't iron out exactly why Mr. Baldwin in particular should have been arrested.
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