Body camera footage of the incident shows the officers questioning the teenagers about their quiet demeanor.
“People were just worried because you guys were real quiet and they didn’t know who you were because you guys didn’t show up with parents or any of that stuff,” one officer says in the video, released Friday. The boys were also asked why they did not “cooperate” and share their names with the group. Thomas Kanewakeron Gray told the police his younger brother is very shy and not accustomed to speaking up.
Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray, mother of the boys, wrote on Facebook that the incident had greatly shaken her.
“My two teenagers were ‘patted down,’ and my 17-year-old ordered to ’empty his pockets,’ then immediately ordered to ‘keep his hands out of his pockets,’ until he was forced to ask ‘which one do you want me to do?’” she wrote.
She told reporters that the CSU trip was one her sons had saved up for and that the visit was meant to be a bonding experience between the brothers.
“It breaks my heart, because they didn’t do anything to warrant that [being searched and questioned],” Gray told reporters. “They’re walking on their own ancestors’ land, so it breaks my heart.”
Thomas Kanewakeron Gray told the Associated Press that the incident was “discriminatory” and said that he and his brother “just stayed to ourselves the whole time.”
The school has said it will refund the brothers the money they spent on the visit, but the incident has generated significant controversy and even state lawmakers have weighed in. Colorado’s Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne, who also serves as the chair of Colorado’s Commission on Indian Affairs, said Thursday that the event was deeply disconcerting.
“We want to reiterate our commitment to ensuring our public universities are open and welcoming to all students and hope that the young men will not be deterred in their pursuit of attending college in Colorado, a traditional homeland to many tribal nations,” she said.
CSU has encountered controversy before. A neo-Nazi group, the Traditional Worker Party, left flyers around the campus in February. Tension over a conservative speaker that same month led to clashes between anti-fascist protestors and a group chanting a Nazi slogan.
Several high-profile incidents of racial profiling across the country have also drawn added attention to CSU’s treatment of the Gray bothers. Most prominently, two Black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia while waiting for a friend last month. Footage of the incident — which showed the two young men in handcuffs — went viral and drew national outcry.
Article Appeared @https://thinkprogress.org/college-native-indigenous-students-police-892d58eaa65e/