The organization will meet at 7:30 p.m. at Sample Gates in a demonstration as a part of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, according to the Students Against State Violence Facebook page.
A flier for the upcoming demonstration claims “Andre Green’s death was a blatant example of police brutality; one in an unending campaign of terror against poor people of color.”
Students Against State Violence did not comment on its upcoming rally.
Last week, amid the bright lights and music echoing outside the bars lining Kirkwood Avenue, Students Against State Violence blocked traffic in a march beginning at the Sample Gates to support changing rape culture at IU.
Through bandanas covering their mouths, demonstrators chanted “Yes means yes, and no means no!”
The organization’s Demonstration Against Patriarchial Assault came following recent reports of rape Aug. 29 behind Kilroy’s Dunkirk.
In a call to action flier distributed at the demonstration, Students Against State Violence drew attention to the Aug. 29 incident in which an officer discovered the crime in progress while on regular patrols, according to an IU Police Department statement.
The demonstration flier said, “A police officer witnessed the crime and did not arrest the assailant. He walked free. We absolutely will not stand for this any longer.”
The same flier also cited an incident last spring in which a part-time IUPD officer was suspended on sexual assault charges within a residence hall.
The protestors at the demonstration demanded the police officer involved in the Aug. 29 report be kept accountable and police patrols in dorms be stopped immediately.
While IUPD Lt. Andy Stephenson said the department encourages people to voice their opinions, he said he believes some stances taken against IUPD are being made by those who do not fully understand IUPD’s process.
“We take every report of sexual assault very seriously,” Stephenson said. “The legal system has a process, and, when you gather the facts and present our evidence, it’s not up to the police department to charge people with crimes. All we can do is present the facts and present the case to the prosecutor’s office.”
Stephenson said the officer suspended last spring was a student living in a residence hall and the investigation was deferred to the Bloomington Police Department. The prosecutor’s office later determined there was not enough evidence to press criminal charges. It was the only incident Stephenson said he could think of involving IUPD.
“I can tell you that the University and IUPD are not complicit in rape culture,” Stephenson said. “It’s something that we work very hard to prevent these types of things from happening.”
Stephenson said the department works closely with other University offices such as OASIS, a drug and alcohol information center on campus, and Residential Programs and Services to spread the word that sexual assault crimes need to be reported.
IUPD also offers rape aggression defense training twice a year and upon request to teach a women-only class on defense tactics to be used in an instance of assault. Stephenson said hundreds of women have taken the free 12-hour training class.
“It’s a problem at every university in the county, and the police department cannot make a difference by themselves,” Stephenson said. “It takes a total community effort, and in this case I agree with those that voice their opinions because obviously all of the people need to work together to change the culture regarding the way sexual assault is viewed.”
