OCEAN CITY – A federal inquiry has found no civil right violations occurred last June during the use of force by Ocean City police officers to apprehend suspects on the Boardwalk.
“The FBI did conduct an inquiry into the two use force cases that occurred in early June 2021,” said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan in a response letter to Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s recent request for an update on the incidents. “We have recently learned that the FBI determined neither case rose to the level of a Federal Civil Rights Violation and that its inquiry is now closed. As I understand the facts and process, in late June the Ocean City Police Department was contacted by the FBI who had been asked to conduct an inquiry into both use of force matters. Subsequently, we invited FBI Supervisory Special Agent Thomas Coyle and Special Agent Joe Lear to meet with OCPD, and provided all of the information requested and further offered to cooperate in any way that would be of assistance. Thereafter, the FBI conducted its inquiry and forwarded its recommendation to the Assistant United States Attorney and then to person(s) within the Department of Justice. After this multi-level review, this matter was closed.”
Meehan’s letter, dated Sept. 17, was released Thursday to the media along with a written response by OCPD Records Supervisor Margie Lonergan dated Oct. 26 to The Washington Post’s Public Information Act requested Oct. 13. The newspaper’s request sought internal reviews of two incidents – June 6 when Taizier Griffin was arrested on the Boardwalk and on June 12 when teeagers Brian Anderson, Jatique John Lewis and Kamere Day were apprehended on the Boardwalk.
Both incidents, stemming from vaping on the Boardwalk that is prohibited, involved police using force to gain compliance with the suspects, resulting in national media and civil rights groups questioning the police department with accusations of racism and unfair treatment of minority.
Lonergan’s letter restated Meehan’s conclusion to the senator, saying, “The Town has recently learned that the FBI determined neither incident rose to the level of a Federal Civil Rights Violation, and after a multi-level review this matter was closed. Neither the Department nor the Town have the FBI inquiry records.”
In his letter to Van Hollen, Meehan added, “I can also add that both matters were subject to a thorough multi-level OCPD internal review which determined that both force issues were objectively reasonable by professional standards and that the officers’ actions were within the scope of OCPD policy.”
During the separate incidents in question, Ocean City police officers arrested multiple suspects after they allegedly failed to comply with orders to stop vaping on the Boardwalk in violation of the town’s smoking ordinance. In one instance caught on a cell phone video, one of the suspects is seen being kneed repeatedly by an officer. In another instance, a suspect is seen being tased by a police officer.
The videos went viral on social media and prompted state and local African-American leaders to call for an investigation. It’s important to note the videos only showed fractions of larger events on the Boardwalk that escalated when the individuals involved reportedly did not comply with officers’ orders.
The individuals involved were arrested and charged with various offenses such as assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing and hindering and failure to obey a lawful order, for example.
Earlier this month, the Caucus of African-American Leaders (CAAL) held a press conference at City Hall to remind Ocean City representatives, “If elected officials believed that by doing nothing and saying nothing, that this matter would blow over, they are in for a rude awakening,” according to CAAL spokesman Carl Snowden said.
In July, the CAAL and state and local NAACP branches had a Freedom Bus tour across the Eastern Shore that ended with a stop in Ocean City. CAAL and NAACP leaders met with Mayor Rick Meehan to call for an independent investigation into the incidents. On Tuesday, the CAAL leadership returned to Ocean City to call on the Maryland Attorney General’s Office to conduct an independent investigation. CAAL leaders cited recently-passed state legislation requiring an independent investigation during cases of alleged police brutality.”
For his part, Snowden said the African-American leadership is not claiming the young men involved in the incident were not absent of blame, but merely the level of force allegedly used did not match their actions.
“Police brutality has to stop,” he said. “What happened on the Boardwalk in June is unacceptable. We don’t claim any young man did anything right or wrong, but what happened to them was unacceptable.”
