Security blamed for Mace incident

Contracted security officers used Mace on attendees at a DMX concert Wednesday at Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, according to an IU Police Department investigation. The contracted security company was not sanctioned by IUPD or the University, said IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger.\nHowever, police still don’t know the identity of the specific organization or person that used Mace on the first couple rows of the audience. Some attendees are considering pressing charges against whoever used the Mace.\nRepresentatives from Lambda Chi Alpha did not return the Indiana Daily Student’s calls by press time.\nAt the time of the event, no IUPD officers were hired to help with security, Minger said. The concert was scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m. and Lambda Chi Alpha were supposed to have amplified music turned off by 10 p.m., he said. Nyle Washington, a representative for DMX, said DMX was not notified of the city’s noise ordinance.\nChannel 13, the NBC affiliate in Indianapolis, provided video footage of the event to IUPD. The department examined it and discovered that security not related to IU ran on the stage. The security officers looked like police because they were dressed in duty uniforms with gun belts and appeared to be wearing weapons on them, Minger said. Eventually, the contracted security officers sprayed the audience with mace, he said.\n“I didn’t get directly sprayed, but we were coughing,” said sophomore Alli Germain, who was in the seventh row of the crowd. “It had just drifted onto us. He definitely sprayed the front row, though.”\nSpencer resident Billy Bowman, 23, who is quadriplegic and was in a wheelchair in the front row of the concert, was sprayed with Mace. He was not in his electric wheelchair, so he couldn’t get himself out. His sister, Kaitie Bowman, 17, was not able to get him out in time and was also sprayed with mace.\n“My brother’s face is still burning,” Kaitie Bowman said. “We are still scrubbing his face with soap and water.”\nThe Bowman family has an attorney and is investigating the incident and might press charges, Kaitie Bowman said.\n“Everyone was on the same page that the concert was supposed to end by 10 p.m.,” said Jeremiah Shinn, associate director for Student Affairs. “Lambda Chi Alpha was very compliant. They took care of the situation in a responsible manner.”\nAt the time of the concert, Shinn was on patrol with IUPD officer Scott Dunning, Minger said. When the pair arrived on Third Street, they saw three vehicles blocking traffic in the left lane in front of the Lambda Chi Alpha house. Shinn then told Dunning the concert was supposed to already be over. Dunning then approached the sound man for DMX and told them they needed to shut the concert down, Minger said.\n“They didn’t want to disturb residents,” Minger said. “I live six blocks away and could hear it from my house.”\nAs about 1,000 students began to leave the concert, they filled Third Street, Minger said. Eventually, traffic was stopped on Third Street to allow students to leave the event. Students were upset and began to get rowdy, Minger said.\nAfter the concert let out, Minger said IUPD called for reinforcement from both IUPD and BPD to handle the amount of students leaving the house.\nWashington said the person who used Mace was not affiliated with DMX and that they had never worked with or hired the contracted security.