Martese Johnson is held down by an officer Wednesday, March 18, 2015, in Charlottesville, Virginia. AP/Bryan Beaubrun
The violent arrest of a black student at the University of Virginia has spurred an independent investigation and unity among students expressing their outrage, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.
Like they do on any big night of drinking, agents were on patrol looking for underage drinkers, but what happened outside a bar Wednesday has aggravated racial tensions on campus.
Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agents arrested third-year student Martese Johnson early Wednesday morning after the bar denied him entry.
Johnson, 20, is seen pleading with police outside the Trinity Irish Pub in Charlottesville in video captured on a cell phone. It shows the underage student beaten and bloody outside the bar and many are asking whether the ABC agents used excessive force.
"I go to U.Va! I go to U.Va! You f---ing... You f---ing racists! What the f--- How did this happen?," Johnson said.
Arrest documents noted Johnson, "was very agitated and belligerent but [has] no previous criminal history." He suffered injuries to the head his lawyer said required 10 stitches.
A group calling itself Concerned Black Students said the arrest was "unprovoked" and "brutish." They circulated an image of a bloodied Johnson pinned to the ground, igniting outrage among students.
U. Va president Teresa Sullivan called on Governor Terry McAuliffe to investigate.
"I felt it in my stomach. Just seeing the blood run down that young man's face, you know I wanted to know what happened," Sullivan said.
Late Wednesday, hundreds gathered on campus to support Johnson. He was at the rally and was visibly moved by the turnout.
Johnson's lawyer said his client, a double major who holds a number of leadership positions at the university, was "absolutely devastated" by the events.
"To just see it happen so brutally and so vividly in front of our faces just wakes us up to the reality that we face here every day," U.Va student Assa Diaw said.
Johnson is due to appear in court next week and the agents involved in his arrest have been put on administrative duty pending the investigation.
This isn't the first time Virginia's ABC has had a run-in with a U.Va student. In 2013, agents mistakenly arrested a female student after they thought the water she was buying was actually beer. That student later sued and settled with the state for more than $200,000 dollars.
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