National discourse about police brutality and racism came to Binghamton University today as students marched through campus and staged demonstrations in response to the recent court decision to not indict Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, Missouri police department in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.
More than 40 students marched through the Lecture Hall, Brain, Glenn G. Bartle Library and Marketplace chanting slogans like, “I got my hands on my head — please don’t shoot me dead” and “Turn up, don’t turn down. We do this for Mike Brown.”
Once inside the Marketplace, students laid down on the floor for four minutes and 32 seconds, one minute for every hour that Brown’s body remained in the street after he was shot.
“As an African-American, this was important to me,” said Alexis Gray, an undeclared freshman. “I have friends and family members who are in danger every day due to racial profiling.”
Jordan White, an undeclared junior, and Lenny Herrera, a junior majoring in Latin American and Caribbean area studies, were inspired to organize the demonstration after attending a protest in New York City over the weekend.
“We let the world know that the Binghamton campus is racially aware,” White said.
The Binghamton Speech and Debate club helped Herrara and White organize the walk out as part of a national day of action where students at universities across the country staged similar walk outs at 1 p.m.
“Police racially profile people off campus all the time,” Herrara said. “There needs to be a discussion about race. We think we live in a post-racial society.”
Students like David Kopolovich, a senior majoring in neuroscience, said that the demonstration resonated with them.
“It was a pretty powerful demonstration and a good use of student rights,” Kopolovich said. “It was completely peaceful and well orchestrated.”
A sophomore majoring in industrial engineering, who wished to be identified as Ryan, was more critical of the demonstrators.
“It was very disruptive; I was just trying to do homework and it seemed a little bit aggressive,” he said. “It didn’t seem like the best time or place. This is an area designated for work, and people do protest all the time that are outside and less disrupting.”
Despite some negative reactions from passersby, including rude gestures and racially charged comments on social media sites like Yik Yak, most of the demonstrators said the day was meant to be the beginning of a discussion.
“People have to be sympathetic, and they have to be open minded about what it is that we’re saying,” Herrera said. “We’re not doing it for no reason and we’re not just playing the race card.”
Joseph Hawthorn contributed reporting to this article