The Black Student Union gathered on the wooden stage outside the Cultural Awareness Center Thursday at noon as speakers played rap music. Though the scheduled event was not widely advertised, as soon as the president of the Black Student Union Taylor McClure started speaking on the microphone, a crowd quickly formed.

The Black Student Union banded together Nov. 7 for a peaceful demonstration in response to an Oct. 10 incident on campus involving a student and police officers. 

Theo Scott-Femenella, a commercial music major, was walking to his truck from class when he noticed five police officers surrounding a black Tongan man near Hughes Stadium. Scott-Femenella said he was concerned for the safety of everyone involved, and decided to record the exchange with his cellphone from a distance at the crosswalk.

According to Scott-Femenella, campus police and the Sacramento PD shifted their focus to him and asked for his ID. Though he denied their requests at first, he eventually complied. The officers told Scott-Femenella that he matched the description of a person they were looking for, though he said the only similarity was the color of his skin and his backpack. The police then detained and searched Scott-Femenella, keeping him handcuffed on the curb for 30 minutes before letting him go.

“Somebody else with less privilege than me, someone else who is in a more marginalized group, would’ve been killed, would’ve been hurt,” said Scott-Femenella. “Someone who didn’t know how to handle their emotions would have made the officers much more confrontational. They already had their hands on their guns when they approached me, and I was very calm and I was very articulate.”

The Black Student Union heard about the incident through social media, and reached out to Scott-Femenella, according to McClure. From there they reviewed bodycam footage and provided a safe space for Scott-Femenella, and together came up with the idea for the Nov. 7 peaceful demonstration. 

The demonstration attracted a diverse crowd of students and faculty of all different ethnic backgrounds. Dr. Albert Garcia, vice president of instruction, was one administrator who was present to provide support.

“We’re concerned with having a good, positive place for the students to go to school, and to be a part of a community that cares,” said Garcia. “We recognize that it doesn’t always feel like that, and there may be situations that are challenging. But as an administrative team, we think it’s important for all of our student groups, and for this case particularly the Black Student Union, to know that we want that.”

The Black Student Union hosted the demonstration to have Scott-Femenella tell his story, and other members of the Black Student Union spoke as well. They discussed what rights people have when interacting with officers and also provided “Know Your Rights” pamphlets with information about how to deal with police for black and brown students. 

“It’s very important that anyone on this campus, on and off-campus, uses your advocacy in real life not just on the internet, not just for your students or your neighbors,” BSU President McClure told the audience. “You need to make sure that you’re cop watching for any black or brown student or not because that can save someone’s life or change someone’s life.”

McClure went on to explain how black students are tired of feeling unsafe on campus and expressing that feeling without seeing change. She also encouraged other students to use their voice and privilege to help support black and brown students. 

“We have to deal with this every single day, on and off-campus,” McClure said to the audience. “We don’t feel safe here, and the black students on this campus have repeated and repeated again, made this clear that we are not safe on this campus. So use your voice, use your privilege, and build that relationship because our lives are at stake over here.”

Joshua Robinson, social science major and treasurer for BSU, was one speaker at the demonstration. He informed the crowd of their duties as community members and commended Scott-Femenella for holding the police accountable.

“It’s all of our duties to make sure that this campus is safe, and when something is going on that that doesn’t look right and there’s police involved, we should observe,” said Robertson. “We should make sure everyone walks away from that scene safe, and no one should be punished for making sure that everyone is safe on campus.” 

As well as touching on current issues with police, the Black Student Union provided historical context of the relationship between black people and police. When McClure asked the crowd if they knew that police originated as slave catchers, only members of the Black Student Union rose their hand, Jamaréa Austin being one of them. 

“For over 400 years, black people have been dealing with cops in a negative way. We’ve been treated negatively by them for many generations, to where we’re not surprised,” said Austin. “If you want us to respect you as police officers, then you got to start showing us a bit of humanity, treat us as human beings. At the end of the day, we’re not minorities, we’re not a color, we’re people. We deserve that common courtesy of being treated as a human being.”

The Black Student Union is using the incident as an opportunity to inform students of issues they face, encourage involvement, and educate students about their legal rights. They hope to continue to encourage and educate the community, and to use this incident as a catalyst for change, McClure said. 

“I think it’s easy as black and brown people to just be angry at the country, and live in that fear and anger,” said Scott-Femenella. “But we have to step outside and put ourselves at risk in order to stand up for what’s right and stand up for each other. That’s all I was trying to do. Even though I put myself at risk knowingly, I would do it again if I saw it. We have to take risks. Now is our time for our generation to have the stones cast at us, so that our children don’t have those same stones cast toward them.”