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UTSA Issues Statement About Video Of Police Escorting Student Out Of Classroom

@ApurvaYRawal
/
Twitter
A screen shot of a student leaving a UTSA classroom with police.

Update 1:45 p.m.

A video showing San Antonio police officers escorting a student out of a classroom at the University of Texas at San Antonio is being investigated by school officials.

According to accounts on Twitter, a professor is said to have called the police to have a female African-American student escorted out of a biology class for having her feet propped up on a chair.

UTSA sent out a tweet that both the student and professor have been interviewed by school officials and the professor will remain out of the classroom for the rest of the week.

Apurva Rawal, who uses the Twitter handle @ApurvaYRawal, posted the video of the student being escorted out of class. The video currently has more than a million views.

WATCH | The original tweet from @ApurvaYRawal

"So this happened today in class, a girl had her feet up and the professor called the police after calling our class uncivil," said Rawal in his post Monday.

Rawal did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

In a separate post, a student with the Twitter handle @FavoritePaigeee said she is the student in the video.

"This is me in Anita Moss’ 2053 Bio classroom. Upon entering class I was told I needed to leave or would be escorted out by officers, I never disobeyed the student code of conduct. Not once. A police report is being filed atm, this is just the beginning. Thanks for your support," the post read.

A request for comment was not immediately returned. 

In an email to students, UTSA President Tyler Eighmy said that the Office of Equal Opportunity Services is investigating the incident.

"This concerns me greatly, and it’s incumbent upon us as an institution to face this head-on," Eighmy said in his email to students. "It’s something that we need to address immediately as a university community."

READ | Full email from UTSA President Tyler Eighmy

Vince Kong can be reached at vince@tpr.org or on Twitter @teamvincek

Vince Kong comes to Texas Public Radio after working for about a decade in print, including stints in the Midwest, Northwest and Southwest.