Purdue University cop presses elbow against black student's neck

  • 2 years ago
Purdue University cop presses elbow against black student's neck
Purdue University police are reviewing a white officer's use of force after he was filmed pinning a black student to the ground and pressing an elbow against his neck last week.

Student Adonis Tuggle, 24, was approached by the officer on campus at around 8.22pm on Friday, February 4 after someone called and claimed that a woman was being held against her will on the school's campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Video shows the officer, identified as Jon Selke by Tuggle on social media, pinning Tuggle against the snow and pressing an arm against his neck.

'You're choking me,' Tuggle said.

The woman filming, who called Tuggle her boyfriend, taps Selke on the shoulder and asks, 'Can you take your elbow off his f***** neck?'

'Touch me again and I will tase you. Stop,' the officer responds.

Tuggle was eventually arrested and charged with resisting arrest. He was released that same night on $250 bail, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier.

On Thursday, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels promised that an investigation into the arrest will be 'swift and thorough.''Immediately upon learning of the use of force during our police officer’s response, we ordered an investigation, including not only the required review of the officer’s actions as is standard procedure under Purdue University Police policies, but also witness interviews and a release of all video evidence, including body-worn and in-car camera footage,' Daniels wrote in a letter posted to the college's website.

Daniels added that all relevant material, including body-worn camera footage, will be released when the investigation is completed.

A minute-long video of the arrest shows a white officer with an elbow pressed against Tuggle's neck and face as they struggled on the snow. Tuggle is a junior at Purdue's College of Health and Human Sciences, according to the school directory.

'Stop. Get off of him. You're on video, you are on video. You're hurting him. You are hurting him,' yells a woman behind the camera .

'Adonis, I can't do anything. He's huge,' she says.

'Call 911,' he pleads. 'You've been disrespectful this whole time, bro,' he tells the officer as his neck is pressed against the snow on the ground.

The officer threatens to use a Taser against the woman after she taps his shoulder.

When a second officer shows up, the distressed woman adds, 'Help. He's on his neck. Please help. This officer won't get off his neck. He's taking it too far.' Tuggle posted video of the incident to his own Instagram on Wednesday.

'I NEED HELP!!! Please share this to as many ppl as possible and spread the news,' he wrote.

'Officer Jon Selke of Purdue Police punched me repeatedly, elbowed me in the face, smothered my face into the snow, and choked me with his elbow while having me pinned to the ground the entire time. Purdue police refuse to give me body cam footage and have concluded Officer Selke "did no wrong".

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