A member of the University of Minnesota’s student government urged her peers to “disrupt” the campus police department by annoying “the s— out of them.”
Lauren Meyers, a member of the Minnesota Student Association Executive Board, seemingly called on students to submit false reports to the University of Minnesota Police Department during a recent meeting.
“When you say disrupt UMPD, what exactly do you mean by that?” one student asked her.
“Make their lives hell. Annoy the s— out of them,” Meyers responded. “Like, use up their resources, make their officers show up to something.”
Here it is. We received a copy of the video that was deleted from Reddit.#UMN Student Association Rep Lauren Meyers advocates disrupting #UMPD police to "make their lives hell, annoy the sh*t out of them, use up their resources, make their officers show up to something." #MN pic.twitter.com/DxQD4b0aDE
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) April 27, 2021
Her comments were reportedly made while discussing a letter the student government sent this week to President Joan Gabel, which calls for UMPD Chief Matt Clark’s resignation. According to the letter, Clark has “allowed the utilization of UMPD as a physical arm of the oppressive state to subjugate and silence community members both on and off campus.”
“Most importantly, in his time as Chief of UMPD, Matt Clark has overseen and failed to act on the countless accusations of discrimination,” the letter continues, threatening “direct actions” if “our demands are not met.”
A communications director for the Minnesota Student Association did not respond to a request for comment.
“The University respects the autonomy of the Minnesota Student Association as an independent governance organization for undergraduate students, including the autonomy of its membership to speak freely,” a school spokesperson told Alpha News.
“However, in this instance, the University unequivocally disagrees with the ideas expressed about disrupting UMPD’s daily work. These ideas are illegal and would directly conflict with ongoing efforts to keep our campus community safe,” he added.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association and Law Enforcement Labor Services, both police unions, asked for an investigation into whether Meyers violated the school’s code of conduct.
“Actively planning to thwart UMPD by generating false calls for help is insulting to the overwhelming majority of the campus community that rely on public safety services. MSA leaders should be ashamed — and apologize to the campus community and victims of crime on campus,” said Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association Executive Director Brian Peters.
Peters pointed out that Minnesota law prohibits using emergency calls to report a false emergency or crime.
“Last month the campus community had 13 incidents of aggravated assault, 52 burglaries, 22 car thefts, four sexual assaults, numerous thefts, and a murder on or near campus. We’re frustrated that elected student leaders would purposefully choose to stir further division to make the campus less safe,” he added.
Another student government leader falsely accused campus police of racial profiling earlier this year. Student Nikil Badey said on Instagram that he was stopped by police because he is “a brown man” and was afraid he “would be shot.” Body camera video of the incident contradicted his account, showing police initially thought he was white and were exceptionally polite throughout the one-minute interaction.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
