An Emory University economics professor has been charged with assault after it appeared she was violently arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus.
A CNN video captured the moment a woman believed to be Caroline Fohlin was arrested by police in Georgia last Thursday. She was wrestled to the ground after attempting to question police who were arresting protesters.
CNN reported that at least two professors were arrested by police in Atlanta – Caroline Fohlin, an economics professor at Emory University, and Noëlle McAfee, chair of the philosophy department. However, the source did not confirm whether the video was of Ms. Fohlin.
DeKalb County Jail records show a person named Caroline Fohlin was arrested by the Emory University Police Department on Thursday and released the following day.
She was charged, among other things, with simple assault against a police officer.
Emory University is one of many U.S. campuses that have hosted pro-Palestinian protests and encampments in recent weeks.
At Georgia College, protesters set up several tents on the campus lawn, leading to the arrests of 28 people. About 20 were “members of the Emory community,” Cheryl Elliot, the university’s vice president for public safety, said in a statement.
The university also said that several dozen protesters who entered campus and set up tents were “not members of our community” and were “activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish their courses and prepare for final exams.” “.
“Some members of the Emory community later joined the first group,” spokeswoman Laura Diamond said, adding that multiple warnings from police to disperse the crowd were ignored.
In the CNN In the footage, a woman approaches police officers as they are taking a protester to the ground and pinning his head to the ground.
“What are you doing?” the woman seems to ask.
She leaned down toward the person being held, but an officer ran up to her and grabbed her wrists.
“Get on the damn floor now,” he yelled, pulling her away from the person. “Get on the ground, I said.”
The officer then forcibly takes the woman to the ground as she can be heard shouting, “Oh my God.”
“Ow, my head, you just hit my head on the concrete,” the woman appears to be saying as another officer comes over to help restrain her.
The officers put their hands behind their backs and secure them with cable ties.
“I am a professor! “I’m an economics professor,” the woman calls out.
“I reacted impulsively, I apologize. Please remove the handcuffs,” she continues.
More videos have emerged from the protest at Emory, including a video showing police with a taser against a black man who was pinned to the ground by three officers. Witnesses also reported that police fired some type of non-lethal projectile into the crowd.
The Atlanta Police Department said in a statement that its officers were “encountered with violence” while “securing the campus.”
Gregory L. Fenves, the president of Emory University, said he was “saddened by what happened on campus.”
“I also know that some of the videos are shocking, and I am appalled that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions,” he wrote in a statement.
“The fact that members of our community have been arrested concerns me even more and is something I take very seriously. We are working with law enforcement to the best of our ability to assist incarcerated community members and expedite their release.”
Caroline Fohlin could not be reached on Monday. The Independent has contacted Emory University and the Emory Police Department to identify the woman and seek comment.