The debate continues this week over the level of force Alcoholic Beverage Control Officers may have used against a UVA student turned away from a Charlottesville bar. The public still has no explanation for why Martese Johnson ended up bleeding from a head wound, lying on a sidewalk, restrained by three officers.
It was just past midnight, and patrons inside Trinity Irish Pub were still celebrating St. Patrick’s Day while outside watching were three Alcoholic Beverage Control agents. They had told owner Kevin Badke they were hoping to prevent trouble.??
"They said that the reason that they're still hanging out was to make sure there wasn't a riot. That was his direct quote to me."?
That was the same explanation offered last summer when ABC agents explained why they spent more time sniffing for marijuana and videotaping a topless sunbather than making alcohol arrests at the Lockn music festival in Nelson County. But historian Coy Barefoot doesn’t see much risk for riots.??
"There have been UVA students on that street late at night drinking, howling at the moon, since Jefferson was alive."??
Barefoot advocates disbanding the ABC and turning enforcement over to local cops.??
"It's just not the proper use of government authority."??
The pub’s owner refused to admit Johnson after the student gave a different zip code than the one listed on his ID. The arrest report calls Johnson “very agitated and belligerent,” but Badke says the 20-year-old student gave him no trouble.??
"He just gave like a little, 'Aw man. Like, 'C'mon,' a little bit of disappointment which I appreciate. I'm glad when people want to come into my place."??
Badke didn’t see what happened next, and while several bystanders snapped pictures or shot cell phone videos of Johnson bleeding on the sidewalk, no one has produced evidence of how he got there.
It’s been more than a year since the ABC pledged to equip its 123 agents with point-of-view cameras, but officers are not yet using them. Governor Terry McAuliffe says he’s asked a public safety panel for advice on how best to employ technologies like body cams without violating the privacy of Virginia residents.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers have begun calling for new limits on ABC agents. Senator Don McEachin wants to strip them of the power to arrest, and Senator Creigh Deeds wants to fold them into the State Police.
"You're gonna raise professionalism, you're gonna raise training standards, and you're gonna raise employee morale."
During the last legislative session, lawmakers approved a bill to make the ABC more accountable, requiring quarterly reports on law enforcement activities to the secretary of public safety. Other measures to restrict the agency will likely be introduced next year.
