After a protest that led to the arrests of four people on the University of South Florida Tampa campus, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) has called for the termination of university police (USFPD) Chief Chris Daniels.
On March 6, around 25 members and supporters of SDS held a demonstration in the lobby of USF’s Patel Center for Global Solutions, where university President Rhea Law’s office is housed. The group demanded to speak with administration about Gov. Ron DeSantis’s plans to ban diversity initiatives and low Black student enrollment numbers.
The protest turned chaotic when Daniels grabbed a female demonstrator’s arm. Other protestors then rushed in and attempted to pull the woman away. The altercation led to the arrest of one protestor inside and three more outside the building.
The demonstrators now face felony charges for attacking police officers and misdemeanor charges for resisting an officer and disrupting an educational facility.
Law later released a statement in support of USFPD’s actions:
“USF strongly supports the right to free speech. Just this week on our campuses there have been several protests and demonstrations that occurred peacefully and without incident, as is common at a public university. However, what took place on Monday afternoon at the Patel Center is not something anyone wants to see on our campuses. Using their training and university protocol, USF staff and police officers asked a protest group numerous times to move outside of the building, as they were disrupting normal business activities. When the group did not comply, police officers issued several additional warnings in an attempt to deescalate the situation. When the group again failed to comply, law enforcement tried to lead them out of the building. The group actively resisted, with some members putting their hands on police, as officers took action to remove them from the building. I believe it’s appropriate to further look into the matter, and we will review the actions of all involved.”
SDS asserts that the protest was peaceful, and the arrests were the result of police brutality that specifically targeted women and LGBT+ presenting persons.
At a March 9 press conference, the group maintained their innocence and read a list of demands for the university, including the firing of Daniels.
“We are here today to say that we did nothing wrong,” Gia Davila, a senior at USF and one of the members arrested, said. “We were brutalized by the police for exercising our freedom of speech and right to protest and to say ‘No’ to Ron DeSantis’ racist attacks against education. We demand that the charges be dropped.”
The conference took place outside of the university’s entrance, as those arrested had been trespassed from the premises.
“We demand that the charges be dropped, that the academic suspension be ended,” said Chrisley Carpio, a USF employee who was arrested. “That USF and Rhea Law condemn House Bill 999 and refuse to comply with Ron DeSantis’s attack on diversity, Critical Race Theory and just higher education in general and that the police chief Chris Daniel be fired for his brutality against students exercising their right to protest.”
This is not Daniels’ first experience with controversy on the job. In 2020, a former coworker, Trena Reddick, filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming that Daniels wrongfully terminated her after a series of discriminatory behaviors.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, the lawsuit stated that Daniels was demeaning towards female coworkers, contacted Reddick outside of working hours and “left a Miss Piggy stuffed animal hanging from a rope in Reddick’s office.”
USF agreed with the Florida Commission of Human Relations’ response to Reddick’s claims, which stated that “no reasonable cause exists to believe than an unlawful practice occurred.”
Courtesy of Aubrey Carr | The Crow’s Nest
SDS members cite Daniels’ alleged history as a possible reasoning for the protest’s disarray.
“We have found out [that] Chris Daniels has sexual harassment claims against him from former coworkers. We find it ironic, simply because the majority of the people who were attacked on [March 6] were women, or non-binary or members of LGBTQ+ communities. It seemed like they were targeting those who were the most frail, who could not physically fight back against him,” Mika Williams, a USF student and member of SDS, told The Crow’s Nest.
USFPD released a statement in support of Daniels and the other officers involved, saying that the protesters initiated violence, despite the officers attempting to deescalate the situation. “One officer was pushed to the ground and suffered minor injuries, while other officers were also shoved by protestors,” the statement said.
SDS refutes this, saying there were no attempts to deescalate the situation.
This is a developing story.
