Black Student-Athlete Assaulted And Held At Gunpoint By Police During Search For Wanted Suspect

A Black student-athlete at Eastern Illinois University was held at gunpoint, handcuffed and threatened by police officers looking for a wanted suspect.

Jaylan Butler is a sophomore swimmer at the school and back in January, he filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois for unlawful search and seizure, false arrest and excessive force. Butler said the incident took place last February when he was pulled over a little after 8 p.m. near a rest stop in East Moline, Illinois, according to NBC News. Butler reportedly made a stop to stretch his legs.

During Butler’s rest stop, he took a moment to take a selfie in front of the road sign and then went back toward his vehicle where police were pulling up. The officers already had their guns drawn, according to a press release from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, which is representing Butler in the lawsuit. NBC News reports officers from three different departments were involved in the incident, including East Moline officer Travis Staes, Hampton officer Ethan Bush and Rock Island sheriff’s deputies JackAsquini and Jason Pena. One of Butler’s lawyers, Rachel Murphy believes there was a total of six officers.

The lawsuit states that officers yelled at Butler to put his hands up and get on the ground that was covered in snow. Butler followed the officers’ orders. Officers then forced Butler to the ground with one officer putting their knee in the student’s back and another stepping on his neck. At one point, an officer told Butler, “If you keep moving, I’m going to blow your f*cking head off,” the lawsuit says. In a Monday phone call with NBC News on Friday, Butler said he at first thought the incident was a mistake, but when an officer threatened to shoot him, his “thought process shifted,” he said. “I felt numb. I didn’t really know what to expect,” he explained.

Despite Butler’s coach telling officers the student was a part of the swim team, the cops still refused to release him and put him in their squad car. “After several minutes of forcing Mr. Butler to lie down on the ground while handcuffed, Defendants allowed Mr. Butler to sit up. They did not, however, remove his handcuffs or inform him that he was free to go, even though they had already recognized that Mr. Butler was not the suspect for whom they were searching,” the suit states. The officers eventually let Butler go but not before asking him to get his identification from the bus to show them. The lawsuit also states that Butler was never informed that he was being arrested and detained; officers also never reported the night.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he wants a “thorough and transparent” investigation into Butler’s arrest. “I’m deeply troubled by what I’ve read about how Jaylan Butler, an African-American athlete at EIU, was mistreated by law enforcement in East Moline,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

“It’s unacceptable for any young person to feel unsafe and disrespected anywhere in this state — but every day, too many young people of color live through it.” The East Moline police chief, Jeff Ramsey, told NBC News on Friday they will not comments on the incident and that Staes has not received any form of punishment. “This is a civil lawsuit that has been turned over to our city attorneys. The Police Department will not have any comment at this time,” he said in a statement.