A black professor at the Georgia State University Perimeter College in Newton County allegedly called cops on two black students for being a little late to class. The professor, Carissa Nicole Gray, is an associate professor of English at the Atlanta-area institution.
A classmate, Bria Blake, of the two latecomers, who were only identified by their first names, Taylor and Kamryn, blasted the professor in a TikTok video last week.
“Two Black students had the police called on them today at Georgia State’s Perimeter Campus in Newton County for being two minutes late to class. You heard me correctly—two minutes late to class, and they had the police called on them,” Bria Blake began.
“When the professor then asked them to leave, Taylor responded and said, ‘We paid to be here.’ The professor, Carissa Gray, then responded, ‘OK’ and left the room,” she continued. “When she returned, she returned with two armed police officers.”
According to Blake, a female officer tried to use force to remove the students in question from the class. The officer allegedly threatened Taylor and Kamryn with trespassing charges as the two students refused to leave the classroom, Blake added.
“The woman police officer proceeded to hold onto Taylor’s things until Taylor agreed to leave. She then went down to the Advisement Center to figure out who she could talk to to file a report,” Blake said. “She was directed to go to the department head, Professor Mason, [who] then told Taylor that her only two options were to either stay in an environment that she didn’t feel safe in or take an ‘F.’”
Continuing, Blake shared that both she and Taylor went to file a complaint at the Student Life Department. While there, they discovered that “this was not the first time that the police have been called on a student for something irrational.”
“Taylor also disclosed that she felt as though this action taken by Professor Carissa Gray was in retaliation to an earlier event that happened earlier on in this semester,” Blake added. “Time and time again, we’ve seen the police being weaponized against Black people. Calling the police on two students for being two minutes late to class is extremely unreasonable and dangerous.”
“Both of the students—a woman and a man—started crying because they were so terrified of what could happen to them,” she said towards the end of her video. “Stuff like this cannot keep happening to Black youth in America. Stop weaponizing the police against Black people.”
“We are looking into this matter and how it was handled by the faculty member,” a university rep said in a statement to 11Alive. “Campus police arrived after being called by the faculty member and immediately de-escalated the situation between the students and faculty member.”
“Clearly, no crime had been committed, so there were no arrests,” the statement continued. “The provost and police chief have reached out to meet with the affected students. The professor is no longer teaching in-person classes.”
