Martese Johnson, a third-year student in the College and a member of the Honor Committee and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, was arrested around 12:45 a.m. on Mar. 18 in front of Trinity Irish Pub on the Corner. At the request of University President Teresa Sullivan, a state investigation into the use of force in Johnson's arrest is now underway.
Johnson was charged with resisting arrest, obstructing justice without threats of force, and profane swearing or intoxication in public at 4:21 a.m. The arresting officer was Alcohol and Beverage Control special agent J. Miller.
Miller noted on the arrest record that Johnson “was very agitated and belligerent but [has] no previous criminal history.”
In the course of the arrest, Johnson sustained a head injury requiring 10 stitches.
Johnson was held at $1,500 bail with the specification he be released on an unsecured bond when sober. He was released at 6:01 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Johnson has since retained Richmond attorney Daniel Watkins of the firm Williams Mullen as his lawyer.
An email from Black Dot, signed by “Concerned Black Students,” said the arrest was unprovoked as Johnson was not resisting questioning or arrest. The email included a photo of Johnson bleeding while being held outside Trinity.
“Outside of the doors of Trinity Irish Pub, a mass of University students bore witness to the officer’s animalistic, insensitive, and brute handling of Martese,” the email said. “He was left with his blood splattered on the pavement of University Avenue.”
The email asks for a “swift and thorough investigation on the state, local and University levels.”
The Cavalier Daily :: University student, Honor Committee member Martese Johnson arrested
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