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 Photographs circulated on social media showed Martese Johnson, 20,
vice chairman of the University of Virginia's Honor Committee, with
a bloodied face after an arrest by state Alcoholic Beverage Control
agents early on Wednesday morning.
"Governor McAuliffe is concerned by the reports of this incident and
has asked the secretary of public safety to initiate an independent
Virginia State Police investigation into the use of force," the
Democratic governor's office said.
Johnson's arrest, apparently after he was denied entry to a pub, is
the latest incident in which police have injured or killed unarmed
African-American men in the United States.
Video and images published on social media on Wednesday night showed
a massive crowd gathered on the university's campus and many
marching through nearby streets, shouting phrases such as "Black
lives matter," which have been used to protest against police
violence elsewhere in the country.
The phrase gained popularity after a white police officer fatally
shot an unarmed black teen in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson,
Missouri last summer, touching off months of protests. Just last
week, an African-American man was accused of shooting and wounding
two policemen there as a protest wound down.
In a video posted on the website of the University of Virginia
student newspaper, three apparently white officers are holding
Johnson down. "His head is bleeding," a voice yells.
"I go to UVA," Johnson yells repeatedly. "I go to UVA, you ...
racists."
The state's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said it would
cooperate with the investigation, during which time the agents
involved have been placed on administrative duties.
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In a statement, the department confirmed "the individual" had been
arrested after he was refused entrance to a business that serves
alcohol.
The university's Honor Committee to which Johnson belongs
investigates alleged violations of the school's honor code.
"We are outraged by the brutality against a University of Virginia
undergraduate student," UVA's vice president for diversity, Marcus
Martin, and its dean of African-American affairs, Maurice Apprey,
said in a statement.
University President Teresa Sullivan asked McAuliffe to conduct an
independent investigation into the arrest.
Johnson is set to appear March 26 in Charlottesville General
District Court to face misdemeanor charges of obstruction of
justice, public intoxication and swearing.
(Additional reporting by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Sharon
Bernstein, Eric Walsh and Clarence Fernandez)
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