Samples Says Student Is Totally Guilty, But Don't Worry Because They're Conducting a Honest Review

KSDK reported today on the beating of UMSL student Brian Massey by campus police. What I found remarkable in the story is that Bob Samples, university spokesperson, states quite flatly that Massey is guilty despite the fact that multiple witnesses have come forth saying that Massey was attacked by the officers. At no point in this entire process has Samples given any indication that he is taking the student's testimony seriously. At no point has he explained what evidence convinced him that the police account was 100% accurate and that seven different UMSL students were lying about the incident. At no point has he produced a single witness that has said that Massey resisted arrest.

Yet in the news report, it is stated that the university is investigating if the officers "went too far" and could have a report back within two weeks. Call me crazy, but shouldn't Samples be waiting for that report before declaring that Massey is guilty? Might he actually want to put a call out for witnesses? Maybe even talk to someone other than the police officers? If we had anything other than a lapdog mainstream press in this town, Samples would at least be required to answer the questions. Who knows? Maybe he has good answers. But we'll never know from watching Channel 5.

Timeline of Bob Samples' Evolving Claims

Brian Massey, a student at UMSL, was beaten by campus police officers on November 17. He was then charged with assault and "resisting arrest," even though numerous witnesses have said that he did not initiate contact or resist the police officers.

On November 29, in the Current (the UMSL Student Newspaper)University Spokesperson Bob Samples claimed only that Massey grabbed the police officer's arm:

“During the response, the lead officer observed an individual whose presence elevated the anxiety of the student in crisis. Building and radio station officials asked the individual to leave the area. When he refused, two officers were asked to intercede,” Samples said. “The individual was not cooperative. In the process of determining identification, the individual in question grabbed the arm of an officer. The officer advised the individual that he was under arrest for assault.”

On November 29, the official letter to Brian Massey detailing his "misconduct" said that Massey had "attempted" to grab an officer's arm and had "jerked and pulled back":

As the officer attempted to read your identification card, you attempted to grab hold of the officer's wrist and take the identification card out of his hand. The officer then attempted to arrest you for the incident. Multiple witnesses observed you resisting arrest by jerking, pulling back, and shouting at the officers.

On Dec. 11, after talking KMOX into editing out witness testimony from their story, Samples claimed that Massey "tried to strike an officer:"

Samples says Massey grabbed the right wrist of an officer and was told he was under arrest.

Police say, as Massey was being handcuffed, he swung around and tried to strike an officer.

And now, on December 15, Samples tells KSDK that Massey "stepped on the foot of an officer, injuring that officer."

Funny how he forgot to mention all of this stuff until this last week, isn't it?

VIDEO: Witnesses of UMSL Campus Beating

Students at the University of Missouri St. Louis gathered today to collect signatures in support of Brian K. Massey, the student who was beaten by UMSL campus police outside the campus radio station on November 17. Several witnesses have come forward saying that Brian did nothing to provoke the arrest and was badly beaten by the police, but so far there has been no indication that the administration or police are taking the allegations seriously. I attended the event today and interviewed three eye-witnesses who all concurred with Brian's story. So far, there have been no witnesses who have come forward supporting the police version of events, and at least 7 who support Brian's version.

The first witness I spoke to was Justin Collins:


The second witness was Kendah Isom (cousin of Police Chief Isom):



A third witness, Manuel Wynn, also agreed with their story but preferred not to be videotaped.

Amanda Millstone, a classmate of Brian's, describes the emotional trauma he's going through:


Stacy Beckenholdt has been leading the efforts on Brian's behalf, and she explains why she got involved:



A couple further notes: Kendah's story closely matches with what Brian said as the police officers seemed agitated primarily based on being angry at the crowd rather than because of anything Brian did. Also, not mentioned by these witnesses here, Brian's ID clearly states that he is disabled and Brain says that he told the police this while they were beating him.

To hear Brian's version of events, tune in to channel 2 or 5 tonight (I'll update when videos are available) or listen to the Activist Hub radio interview with Brian.

More video soon!

UMSL Police Completely Change Official Story

In the latest, highly-edited story from KMOX, the UMSL spokesperson dramtically upped the ante on this discussion:

Samples says Massey grabbed the right wrist of an officer and was told he was under arrest.

Police say, as Massey was being handcuffed, he swung around and tried to strike an officer.

Massey was subdued and Samples says one officer was injured. Massey says he was kicked and punched.

During the three and a half weeks since the incident occurred, and despite being quoted in two stories by the student newspaper, the police had never before claimed that Massey tried to "strike" an officer, nor that an officer had been injured. Yet now with a student movement and petition starting to gain steam, all of a sudden the police are claiming that Massey tried to "strike" them.

What looks even worse for the police and their administrative defenders is the fact that the official letter sent from UMSL to Massey on November 29 detailing his alleged misconduct also did not mention anything about him trying to strike an officer or an officer being injured. I've uploaded a copy, with Brian's permission, of the letter they sent him:

umsl_letter2

Here is the text of the letter detailing Massey's alleged misconduct:

On or about November 17, 2010, campus police responded to a call regarding a student in crises at the Millennium Student Center. During this time, you were located directly outside the location the student was being assessed by campus police. Upon learning that you and the student had a heated argument just hours before, the police asked you to leave the area to which you refused. The police then asked you for identification, you initially refused this request before finally showing your identification. As the officer attempted to read your identification card, you attempted to grab hold of the officer's wrist and take the identification card out of his hand. The officer then attempted to arrest you for the incident. Multiple witnesses observed you resisting arrest by jerking, pulling back, and shouting at the officers. This misconduct is in violation of Section 200.010.B.10 "Failure to comply with directions of the University Officials acting in the performance of their duties," and Section 200.010.B.9 "Disruptive or disorderly conduct or lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct or expression."

No mention whatsoever of Massey "attempting to strike" an officer in the official letter detailing his alleged misconduct. Think about that. It's also interesting that this letter claimed that Massey attempted to grab an officer's arm, whereas the official police story is that he did grab the officer's arm. It's also interesting that this account claims that Massey refused to show his identification, because in a previous story the UMSL Police Chief Van Ness said that Massey complied with requests to see his ID.