Students at Purdue University in Indiana condemned “police brutality” in a Wednesday letter to the school community after video footage of an incident involving a Black student and a White officer went viral on social media.
The video appears to show a Purdue officer pinning a student, Adonis Tuggle, to a bank of snow on the ground while he and his girlfriend beg him to stop.
“Purdue Student Government is aware of last Friday’s attack on Adonis Tuggle, a Purdue student who was choked and pinned against a mound of snow and ice by Purdue Officer Jon Selke,” Purdue’s student government body said in the letter. “No matter the circumstances, none of us should ever have to undergo or see any of our peers experience this aggressive act of police brutality.”
The letter added that students, especially “peers and community members of color,” are “vulnerable” to “this level of mistreatment.”
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“This incident has highlighted, yet again, a level of racism and injustice that is deeply rooted not only in our campus community but across the nation, and we are witnessing firsthand how the lack of action surrounding police reform continues to impact disparaged communities,” students wrote.
The Purdue Student Government will be hosting a town hall meeting to discuss the video on Thursday evening.
Tuggle posted the video taken by his girlfriend to Instagram before it made rounds elsewhere on social media and identified the officer as Selke.
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“Please share this to as many ppl [sic] as possible and spread the news,” Tuggle 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. … Help me get justice and hold this man accountable.”
Fox News Digital’s request for comment from Selke was not immediately returned.
Students walk on the Purdue Mall on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Daniel Acker)
Purdue Police Department Chief John Cox said in a Thursday statement that police were responding to an “urgent” call on Feb. 4 from a caller stating that “it appeared a woman was being held against her will near Horticulture Drive.”
“Any time a PUPD officer uses force in connection with an arrest, the department conducts an internal review. PUPD commenced that review, led by Deputy Chief Lesley Wiete immediately upon receiving the officer’s report on Friday night,” Cox said. “That investigation will, under PUPD General Orders, include input from all witnesses to the arrest and take into account all available evidence, including video from officers’ body-worn cameras and statements from the students involved. No physical injuries were suffered in the incident.”
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Cox added that video footage from police body cameras will be made available once the department’s internal review is complete.
Fox News Digital has also requested copies of body camera footage from the incident.
