On March 26, Vanderbilt University police arrested a local reporter covering a pro-Palestinian protest on campus. Now, an independent review has determined that the arrest went against the command of VUPD officials.
Vanderbilt commissioned the law firm Neal & Harwell to review its handling of the arrest, in which officers charged Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka with criminal trespass for trying to gain entry to the site of a student-led sit-in.
The report ultimately found that Vanderbilt’s actions did not violate the First Amendment. In interviews conducted by the law firm, none of the officers, nor Motycka himself, said they believed he was arrested because he was a reporter. Motycka said he believes the officers arrested him because they found him “annoying.”
Vanderbilt released the report Tuesday, which outlines a breakdown in communication between VUPD leadership and officers on the ground.
VUPD’s chief deputy, referred to as Officer 1 in Vanderbilt’s redacted version of the review, had instructed officers to clear any arrests with him and the chain of command. At a briefing before the arrest, officers weren’t sure if Motycka had gained entry to Kirkland Hall already.
“Officers were shown a picture of Mr. Motycka,” the review said. “The stated plan was to determine if he was in the building and ask him to leave if he was there. There was no intention to arrest him, but it was discussed that he was to be removed if he refused to leave. Officer 1 believes that he was very clear in his instructions and there were to be no arrests at that time without clearing it through the police command structure.”
Marianna Bacallao WPLN NewsProtestors chalk the boundary of Vanderbilt University where Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka was arrested, writing “Possible get arrested” on one side and “Hopefully okay” on the other.
Surveillance video shows that Motycka tried to enter Kirkland Hall but did not get past the locked doors. Several officers said they told Motycka he could not enter the building. Motycka also tried and failed to reach communication officers for the university.
One of the arresting officers, referred to in the redacted report as Officer 4, said that he understood there had been a “prior issue” with Motycka at other campus protests. The other arresting officer, called Officer 9, said he believed that Officer 4 had instructed him to make the arrest when he said, “This guy needs to be arrested,” according to the review.
In video of the arrest, Motycka said that he had not been asked to leave, but that he would leave now. Officer 4 told the reporter that he had been warned before, and added “not today, in the past.”
VUPD command did not know about the arrest until it was announced over the police radio, but leadership did not reverse the decision. VUPD officials asked Officer 9 to delay the booking, so he waited outside and completed the arrest paperwork, checking a box that marked Motycka’s offense of criminal trespassing as “likely to continue.”
District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office refused to prosecute, and Motycka was released from police custody later that afternoon.
The Neal & Harwell report also looked at Vanderbilt’s media policy, and made the following recommendations:
- Adopt a formal written media access policy.
- Widely disseminate its media access policy, including posting it online and communicating directly with all local media outlets, both initially and at regular intervals thereafter.
- Make arrangements to make sure someone from Vanderbilt Communication is available to promptly respond to a contact or inquiry, on a 24 hour/7 days a week basis.
- Vanderbilt Communications and the Vanderbilt Police Department work together to develop guidelines or protocols on how to communicate with each other to work with media seeking to cover unscheduled or unplanned newsworthy events on campus.
In a statement, Vanderbilt University said that it is “acting on these important and helpful recommendations.”
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