Harvard Junior Alleges Racially-Biased Arrest

A Harvard junior is charging that University police arrested him and sent him to jail because he is Black.

Inati Ntshanga alleged in an interview that the arrest was racially-motivated and that one of the arresting officers was influenced by her negative feeling toward him.

Ntshanga--who was later acquitted of charges but will still have a permanent arrest record--requested a University investigation into the police's actions.

After a ten month delay, University Attorney Allan A. Ryan Jr. said he began to investigate the case and, after 22 days, he found that police procedure was proper.

"I consider the matter closed," Ryan said in January 28, 1994 letter to Ntshanga's attorney, Harvey A. Silverglate.

But Ntshanga and his attorney say they are not satisfied with the University's investigation.

"Harvard does it worst when it operates in secrecy," says Silverglate. "They have this idea that if they keep things quiet it is for the benefit of the students."

Police arrested Ntshanga for trespassing in Matthews Hall early on the morning of December 29, 1992, according to documents.

The arrest was made after Ntshanga opened the Matthews door with his key and entered the office where he worked for Harvard Student Agencies (HSA).

Ntshanga, who is from the Republic of South Africa, was taken to Middlesex County Jail where he remained in a cell with convicted felons for roughly two hours before being released into the custody of Dean of Students Archie, C. Epps III.

Police insisted then, as they maintain now, that they were only following procedure.

"I was determined to bail him out," Epps said in an interview this week. "Seeing him in court was very disturbing and frankly he described that he was treated very roughly by the Harvard police."

"He was clearly in shock and deeply disturbed that he received treatment at Harvard of the kind that he feared in South Africa," he added.

Epps confirmed the Ntshanga, who student's story. Ntshanga, who retained Sliverglate on Epps' advice, says he is coming forward publicly now to ensure the "better treatment" of students by Harvard police.

Ntshanga also charges that he was harassed last month by off-duty University police--who stopped him and two Black friends as they walked to Ntshanga's off-campus apartment.

Silverglate, a former Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union president, has a record of pursuing cases which involve Harvard police negligence.

"The treatment he received...made it quite clear that his race was at least one of the reasons he was treated so badly," Silverglate wrote in a March 11, 1993, letter to VicePresident and General Counsel Margaret H.Marshall.

Harvard offered to drop the charges, butSilverglate said in an interview this week that helet Ntshanga be tried and acquitted to provepublicly his client's innocence.

"When [the police] realized [their mistake],they offered to dismiss, but I wanted a notguilty," Silverglate says.

But while Ntshanga says he won't file a lawsuitagainst the University, the complaint raisesquestions about the Harvard Police Department'streatment of minority students, Silverglate says.

The department has been repeatedly accused ofracial harassment by minority students. Mostrecently, in April 1992, the Black StudentsAssociation charged in a flyer door-droppedthroughout campus that police mistreated Blackstudents on four separate occasions.

Laundry Room

At the time of the arrest, Ntshanga wasemployed by HSA to pick up laundry and cleandepots.

At roughly 6:30 a.m., four Harvardpolice--including Officers Peter McGaffigin,George Pierce and Sgt. Kathleen M. Stanford--heardnoise in the HSA linen office.

They entered the room where, according to thepolice report, "Mr. Ntshanga [was] lying on thecounter top wearing shorts, wrapped in blanketsand speaking on the phone."

Ntshanga says one officer, who he knew as"Johnny" from his job working in the policedepartment's escort service, placed his chestagainst Ntshanga's.

Ntshanga and the report indicate that thestudent identified himself and explained why hewas in the room.

Ntshanga says he then asked "Johnny" why theofficer was being "tough" when he knew him to be anice guy.

Ntshanga says "Johnny" was then pushed away byanother police officer.

"[Johnny] really hated me because I was talkingtoo much, I guess," Ntshanga says.

Ntshanga could not produce his studentidentification card. But Ntshanga says hesuggested to the officers that they call his HSAmanagers.

The police report, however, does not mentionNtshanga's question. It says instead, "[Ntshanga]replied go ahead and arrest me; I want to bearrested."

The police did not make any attempt to reachmanagers.

Larry Cheng `96, the current linen manager forHSA, confirmed that Ntshanga was an employee witha right to be in Matthews that morning.

"[Ntshanga] has been around for three yearsbecause he was done such a good job," Cheng toldThe Crimson. "He basically knew his job inside andout."

Ntshanga has since quit working with HSA topursue other jobs, Cheng said.

"When Ntshanga exclaimed that the police werewell aware of who he was, one officer asked him,since he did not have his Harvard ID, perhaps hehad a welfare card," Silverglate said in hisletter to Marshall.

"That is when I went numb," Ntshanga recalls.

But Police Chief Paul E. Johnson says hisofficers "often ask for a welfare card" when theysuspect a person might be homeless.

"That is not a racist remark--we ask it of allraces," Johnson says.

According to Silverglate's letter, Ntshangacontinued to protest the welfare remark at whichpoint Stanford remarked: "Enough of this attitudebullshit... We're going to play the hard way--theway you want to play it...We're teaching this boya lesson."

Stanford, who was in training this past week,did not respond to messages through hersupervisor, Police Lt. John Rooney, and Johnson,to comment on her alleged statements.

Johnson denied the charges against hissergeant.

"I don't think any of that is true," he said."We don't treat minorities, whether it be studentsor civilians, by calling them names."

Ntshanga was handcuffed and taken to the policestation where he arrived at roughly 7 a.m..

The Station

At the station, Ntshanga was finger printed andentering, trespassing and possession of burglarytools--his keys to the basement.

Ntshanga said he was given only one phone call,which he used to call his close friend Dumi Banda'95. Ntshanga said he was promised more calls oncehe arrived at Middlesex Country Jail, but he neverreceived the calls. The student was thus neverable to call his family in South Africa or Collegeofficials.

Ntshanga asked Banda to find his student ID,but Banda and Ntshanga's roommate, Tespo Motoshi`95, were unable to locate it. They went to theFreshman Dean's office and spoke with Lorri A.McDaniel, the administrative assistant to the Deanof Freshmen.

McDaniel says she called Jeffrey Williamson,then-master of Mather House. Ntshanga, who livesoff-campus, is affiliated with Mather.

Williamson then contacted Epps, but by thistime Ntshanga had already been taken to Middlesexcourt for his arraignment.

Ntshanga was booked, handcuffed and transportedto the jail where he sat for two hours next to arepeated rapist and near two large, reticent menwith chains on their legs, he says.

"That two hours was the worst experience of mylife," he says. "Right now I wouldn't want mychildren to go to jail for 15 minutes."

During the arraignment hearing, Epps showedproof that Ntshanga was a Harvard undergraduateand the judge released the student into the dean'scustody.

An Investigation

In his March 1993 letter to Marshall,Silverglate asked for the University to look intothe matter. But Ryan, the attorney appointed toexamine the case, did not begin his investigationuntil nearly 10 months had passed, according todocuments.

That investigation appears to have consisted ofmeetings and interviews of parties involved. OnJanuary 28 of this year, Ryan wrote to Silverglatein a letter that the police had acted properlybecause they had "no instantaneous means ofverifying [Ntshanga's] student status." Ryandeclared the case closed.

Ryan made no finding on Stanford's allegedracist remarks: "I neither believe nor disbelieveMr. Ntshanga and Sergeant Stanford in theirconflicting account of what did or did not happenat the prior encounter."

Running Naked

Ntshanga says he had a run-in with Stanford amonth before his arrest.

On that night, the student says he was workingfor the escort service when he was told to takefive students from Quincy House to the McGurdyTrack at Harvard Stadium.

Once at the track, the students, all of whomare white, took off their clothes and ran relaysaround the track while drinking beer, Ntshangasays.

Ntshanga left to respond to another call, andpolice soon arrived at the track. A short timelater, Ntshanga was told to return to the track.

Once there, he says police told him to "putyour hands where we can see them" and questionedhim while police only joked around with the fivewhite students.

Ntshanga was then instructed to return the mento Quincy, which he did.

After finishing work at about 2:45 a.m.,Ntshanga says he returned to the police station at29 Garden St. and asked for a complaint form.

Stanford refused to give him a form and,instead, the two had a 45 minute conversation.

During the conversation, Ntshanga alleges thatStanford told him she had been prejudiced towardBlacks since her childhood.

Stanford also described confrontations she hashad with the BSA, Ntshanga charges.

Ntshanga says he asked for an apology or anexplanation from the officers who detained him atthe track, but never received one.

Robert Griffin, an adult employee of the escortservice, was waiting to drive Ntshanga home as thestudent and the sergeant talked.

"I was waiting for Inati [Ntshanga] to drivehim home... and [Stanford] questioned him... Inatiwas quite upset," Griffin says.

Silverglate and Ntshanga allege that after theNovember meeting, Stanford wanted to get revengeon the student.

Students and Police

The incident raises serious questions about howHarvard police deal with students, Silverglatesays.

"The Harvard police is much more police than itis Harvard and they treat students much more likea big city police would treat students," thelawyer says.

But Rooney says a law called the "CriminalOffender's Records Information Acts" requires thatstudent privacy be maintained at all times.Consequently, he says administrators are notsupposed to be informed of student arrests.

"The procedure does not change whether it is amember of the Harvard community," Rooney says."The problem that arises is the privacy issueabout who and how the information is shared untilhe is arraigned and it becomes official."

In Ntshanga's case, Rooney says he had theoption to call an administrator. The student sayshe had only one phone call, and thought it wouldbe better spent on an effort to reach his friendand find his student ID.

But Epps says the police should have called anadministrator anyway.

"[The police] are there to help students so thepresumption is that they would exhaust internalprocedures before relying on criminal standards,"Epps says. "I believe that the police should havefollowed normal practice and called one of thedeans or his house staff to verify that he was astudent in the college."

And Johnson--contradicting Rooney--agrees thatadministrators should be informed.

"Obviously if a student is wronged we make aneffort to inform the deans," Johnson says

Harvard offered to drop the charges, butSilverglate said in an interview this week that helet Ntshanga be tried and acquitted to provepublicly his client's innocence.

"When [the police] realized [their mistake],they offered to dismiss, but I wanted a notguilty," Silverglate says.

But while Ntshanga says he won't file a lawsuitagainst the University, the complaint raisesquestions about the Harvard Police Department'streatment of minority students, Silverglate says.

The department has been repeatedly accused ofracial harassment by minority students. Mostrecently, in April 1992, the Black StudentsAssociation charged in a flyer door-droppedthroughout campus that police mistreated Blackstudents on four separate occasions.

Laundry Room

At the time of the arrest, Ntshanga wasemployed by HSA to pick up laundry and cleandepots.

At roughly 6:30 a.m., four Harvardpolice--including Officers Peter McGaffigin,George Pierce and Sgt. Kathleen M. Stanford--heardnoise in the HSA linen office.

They entered the room where, according to thepolice report, "Mr. Ntshanga [was] lying on thecounter top wearing shorts, wrapped in blanketsand speaking on the phone."

Ntshanga says one officer, who he knew as"Johnny" from his job working in the policedepartment's escort service, placed his chestagainst Ntshanga's.

Ntshanga and the report indicate that thestudent identified himself and explained why hewas in the room.

Ntshanga says he then asked "Johnny" why theofficer was being "tough" when he knew him to be anice guy.

Ntshanga says "Johnny" was then pushed away byanother police officer.

"[Johnny] really hated me because I was talkingtoo much, I guess," Ntshanga says.

Ntshanga could not produce his studentidentification card. But Ntshanga says hesuggested to the officers that they call his HSAmanagers.

The police report, however, does not mentionNtshanga's question. It says instead, "[Ntshanga]replied go ahead and arrest me; I want to bearrested."

The police did not make any attempt to reachmanagers.

Larry Cheng `96, the current linen manager forHSA, confirmed that Ntshanga was an employee witha right to be in Matthews that morning.

"[Ntshanga] has been around for three yearsbecause he was done such a good job," Cheng toldThe Crimson. "He basically knew his job inside andout."

Ntshanga has since quit working with HSA topursue other jobs, Cheng said.

"When Ntshanga exclaimed that the police werewell aware of who he was, one officer asked him,since he did not have his Harvard ID, perhaps hehad a welfare card," Silverglate said in hisletter to Marshall.

"That is when I went numb," Ntshanga recalls.

But Police Chief Paul E. Johnson says hisofficers "often ask for a welfare card" when theysuspect a person might be homeless.

"That is not a racist remark--we ask it of allraces," Johnson says.

According to Silverglate's letter, Ntshangacontinued to protest the welfare remark at whichpoint Stanford remarked: "Enough of this attitudebullshit... We're going to play the hard way--theway you want to play it...We're teaching this boya lesson."

Stanford, who was in training this past week,did not respond to messages through hersupervisor, Police Lt. John Rooney, and Johnson,to comment on her alleged statements.

Johnson denied the charges against hissergeant.

"I don't think any of that is true," he said."We don't treat minorities, whether it be studentsor civilians, by calling them names."

Ntshanga was handcuffed and taken to the policestation where he arrived at roughly 7 a.m..

The Station

At the station, Ntshanga was finger printed andentering, trespassing and possession of burglarytools--his keys to the basement.

Ntshanga said he was given only one phone call,which he used to call his close friend Dumi Banda'95. Ntshanga said he was promised more calls oncehe arrived at Middlesex Country Jail, but he neverreceived the calls. The student was thus neverable to call his family in South Africa or Collegeofficials.

Ntshanga asked Banda to find his student ID,but Banda and Ntshanga's roommate, Tespo Motoshi`95, were unable to locate it. They went to theFreshman Dean's office and spoke with Lorri A.McDaniel, the administrative assistant to the Deanof Freshmen.

McDaniel says she called Jeffrey Williamson,then-master of Mather House. Ntshanga, who livesoff-campus, is affiliated with Mather.

Williamson then contacted Epps, but by thistime Ntshanga had already been taken to Middlesexcourt for his arraignment.

Ntshanga was booked, handcuffed and transportedto the jail where he sat for two hours next to arepeated rapist and near two large, reticent menwith chains on their legs, he says.

"That two hours was the worst experience of mylife," he says. "Right now I wouldn't want mychildren to go to jail for 15 minutes."

During the arraignment hearing, Epps showedproof that Ntshanga was a Harvard undergraduateand the judge released the student into the dean'scustody.

An Investigation

In his March 1993 letter to Marshall,Silverglate asked for the University to look intothe matter. But Ryan, the attorney appointed toexamine the case, did not begin his investigationuntil nearly 10 months had passed, according todocuments.

That investigation appears to have consisted ofmeetings and interviews of parties involved. OnJanuary 28 of this year, Ryan wrote to Silverglatein a letter that the police had acted properlybecause they had "no instantaneous means ofverifying [Ntshanga's] student status." Ryandeclared the case closed.

Ryan made no finding on Stanford's allegedracist remarks: "I neither believe nor disbelieveMr. Ntshanga and Sergeant Stanford in theirconflicting account of what did or did not happenat the prior encounter."

Running Naked

Ntshanga says he had a run-in with Stanford amonth before his arrest.

On that night, the student says he was workingfor the escort service when he was told to takefive students from Quincy House to the McGurdyTrack at Harvard Stadium.

Once at the track, the students, all of whomare white, took off their clothes and ran relaysaround the track while drinking beer, Ntshangasays.

Ntshanga left to respond to another call, andpolice soon arrived at the track. A short timelater, Ntshanga was told to return to the track.

Once there, he says police told him to "putyour hands where we can see them" and questionedhim while police only joked around with the fivewhite students.

Ntshanga was then instructed to return the mento Quincy, which he did.

After finishing work at about 2:45 a.m.,Ntshanga says he returned to the police station at29 Garden St. and asked for a complaint form.

Stanford refused to give him a form and,instead, the two had a 45 minute conversation.

During the conversation, Ntshanga alleges thatStanford told him she had been prejudiced towardBlacks since her childhood.

Stanford also described confrontations she hashad with the BSA, Ntshanga charges.

Ntshanga says he asked for an apology or anexplanation from the officers who detained him atthe track, but never received one.

Robert Griffin, an adult employee of the escortservice, was waiting to drive Ntshanga home as thestudent and the sergeant talked.

"I was waiting for Inati [Ntshanga] to drivehim home... and [Stanford] questioned him... Inatiwas quite upset," Griffin says.

Silverglate and Ntshanga allege that after theNovember meeting, Stanford wanted to get revengeon the student.

Students and Police

The incident raises serious questions about howHarvard police deal with students, Silverglatesays.

"The Harvard police is much more police than itis Harvard and they treat students much more likea big city police would treat students," thelawyer says.

But Rooney says a law called the "CriminalOffender's Records Information Acts" requires thatstudent privacy be maintained at all times.Consequently, he says administrators are notsupposed to be informed of student arrests.

"The procedure does not change whether it is amember of the Harvard community," Rooney says."The problem that arises is the privacy issueabout who and how the information is shared untilhe is arraigned and it becomes official."

In Ntshanga's case, Rooney says he had theoption to call an administrator. The student sayshe had only one phone call, and thought it wouldbe better spent on an effort to reach his friendand find his student ID.

But Epps says the police should have called anadministrator anyway.

"[The police] are there to help students so thepresumption is that they would exhaust internalprocedures before relying on criminal standards,"Epps says. "I believe that the police should havefollowed normal practice and called one of thedeans or his house staff to verify that he was astudent in the college."

And Johnson--contradicting Rooney--agrees thatadministrators should be informed.

"Obviously if a student is wronged we make aneffort to inform the deans," Johnson says