A Black college professor called the police on two Black students for arriving late to class at Perimeter College at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, sparking outrage from fellow students on TikTok.
TikTok creator and college student Bria Blake posted about the incident on Wednesday evening. In the video, which has amassed over 320,000 views, she says two of her classmates, known as Taylor and Kamryn, were two minutes late to an English class.
Professor Gray Called the Police After Students Refused to Leave
According to Blake, when they arrived to the classroom, the door was wide open and they walked over to their seats and took out their belongings to take notes.
However, the professor, whom Blake identifes as Carissa Gray, asked them to leave because they were late. Blake said Taylor refused to leave the class, telling the professor, "We paid to be here." Gray then left the room and returned with two armed police officers.
One of the police officers, a female, then tried to grab Taylor's belonging and forcibly tried to remove them from the room, Blake says in the video. She also noted that the students were threatened with a trespassing charge if they did not leave.
Blake said that when Taylor tried to file a report, authorities gave her two options; "to either stay in an environment that she didn't feel safe in or take an F." She added that Taylor believes Professor Gray called the police on her in retaliation to an earlier incident that took place earlier in the semester.
"Stuff like this cannot keep happening to Black youth in America," Blake said. "Stop weaponizing the police against Black people."
Georgia State University Releases Statement, Says It's 'Looking Into' Incident
Georgia State University said it is "looking into the situation."
"We are looking into this matter and how it was handled by the faculty member. Campus police arrived after being called by the faculty member and immediately de-escalated the situation between the students and faculty member," the school said in a statement. "Clearly, no crime had been committed so there were no arrests."
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.
However, a Georgia State University representative said that policy refers to extreme behavior that may endanger others in the classroom. Calling the campus police over tardiness or other disrespectful behavior, the representative said, is not typical of university faculty.
