Sheriff claims deputies didn’t search lacrosse group’s private gadgets, body camera exhibits otherwise

LIBERTY COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC/Gray News) - An incident that involved gamers from a college’s lacrosse group and deputies in Georgia remains under investigation.

WTOC experiences Delaware State College President Tony Allen launched a statement on Monday responding to the incident that reportedly occurred on April 20 in Liberty County.

Allen wrote Georgia legislation enforcement stopped a bus for a minor traffic violation with the Delaware State Lacrosse team on board. Deputies searched the belongings of the student-athletes, together with suitcases with drug-sniffing canine.

“100% you possibly can’t be in that left lane in any respect,” mentioned a Liberty County Sheriff’s Deputy.

The group was returning home from a recreation in Florida and touring by a contracted bus, according to Allen.

Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman held a information convention in regards to the incident however took no questions. He claimed that no personal gadgets on the bus were searched.

Body digicam video obtained by WTOC, however, clearly confirmed the deputies going through the scholars’ luggage and even treatment.

The university president wrote in his statement that movies taken by gamers showed law enforcement trying to intimidate them into confessing to possession of drugs and/or drug paraphernalia.

“They didn’t really ask us,” mentioned Sydney Anderson, a Delaware State Lacrosse Participant. “They knowledgeable us of what they’re gonna do and no one questioned them...we simply let them rattle through our stuff.”

A participant on the bus asked: “How did we go from being within the improper lane to going by way of our bags?”

A deputy responded: “Properly, he stopped y’all, he didn’t cease y’all for a traffic violation...he stopped the driver for a visitors violation.”

Nothing unlawful was discovered within the search, and Allen informed the general public that he has contacted Delaware’s governor, the Black Caucus and other state officers.

Allen wrote that everyone was incensed over the incident.

Allen also added the next:

“We do not intend to let this or some other incident prefer it pass idly by. We are prepared to go wherever the evidence leads us. We have now video. We have now allies. Maybe extra significantly, we have the braveness of our convictions.”

Allen concluded his statement by writing, “We are going to never be bullied into believing something aside from what we are: Americans, learners, academics, builders—helpful and honorable individuals able to soar.”

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