‘It’s not ok to hit people, they teach you that in kindergarten’: The skateboarder tackled in the Arbor speaks out
She had to post a $2500 bail
After being tackled by police earlier this quarter, Erin Morgan has found herself in a position where she is trying to balance finals, an impending court case, and the impact of being tackled by an officer.
On February 27, 2017, at 3:22 pm Erin Morgan, a fourth-year zoology major at UCSB, was tackled by UCPD officer while skateboarding through the Arbor after attempting to avoid a citation for skateboarding with headphones.
On the day of the incident, Morgan said she was “coming out of the library from doing a lab report. It was about 3:00 and I had a 3:30 class and then work from 9:30pm to 1:30am, so I was already kind of zombified. I came and skated through the Arbor, I wasn’t in front of anyone, I wasn’t zipping through people. The cop stops me and told me to read the “no skateboarding” sign. I didn’t realize it was a real cop. I was trying to get to class, so he told me to wait and I just didn’t wait. It was the wrong move, and I admit that, it was just bad judgement on my part – but in no way did I think I was going to get assaulted and thrown to the ground and smashed and charged for battery and taken to jail.”
According to Morgan, “I only kicked [on the skateboard] like, twice. I maybe made it fifteen feet, not even. I don’t remember them yelling at me, I just remember getting thrown to the ground. Caught off guard is not even close to the words that explain it, I was just so out of it. I didn’t understand the scope of the situation.”
“I didn’t even realize this man’s authority. Yeah, I disrespected his authority, but he disrespected my body. It was an incredibly disproportionate response.”
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Morgan has been now been charged with resisting arrest and battery of a peace officer. Morgan believes that the battery charge is incorrect, stating that “Every single person I have talked to that saw the whole thing doesn’t know where that’s coming from, I don’t remember making any contact with him, whether it was my elbows, knees, or flailing.”
Because of the incident, Morgan is now seeking help from the university, who she says has been “pretty supportive.”
It has also affected Morgan’s studies. “I had a midterm that Tuesday, and while trying to study my head was just spinning because I was pissed off, sad, disappointed in myself, and disappointed in the school and the cops.”
She also received minor injuries from the event. “I was wearing a sweatshirt, pants, and wool socks and I still have cuts on my knee, ankle, and elbow because he threw me to the ground.”
In a statement released to us by Sergeant Robert Romero of UCPD, Sergeant Romero justified the officers actions by stating that, “the young lady was skateboarding illegally… They ordered her to stop and she decided not to.” Sergeant Romero also said that the university was going to issue an incident report, which has not yet been followed through.
According to Morgan, the officer, “carried himself in a way that I was put back by, he was kind of rude.” This concern echoes a statement made by UCSB first year eye witness Jonah Catalon who claimed that the officer kept “harassing” him with questions, in what he thought was “an effort to possibly provoke me.”
Morgan further called the officer’s character into question. “I think this because I disrespected him… He got emotional, this was an emotional response.” Like many others who have since heard of the event, Morgan is struggling to rationalize the officer’s behavior. “Why did it take two grown men? I wasn’t resisting, I wasn’t trying to hit him, I wasn’t screaming at him or doing anything ridiculous. I didn’t have a weapon, I didn’t have drugs on me, I wasn’t threatening somebody in the Arbor. I was skateboarding. Why do you need to put hands on me?”
To make matters worse, Morgan says that, “It’s been pretty unclear what’s going on because the DA has yet to file my report. I have been into the legal resource center twice and asking about that and each time it’s not yet there. I’m a little bit nervous because I have heard stories of people who have reported other incidents on campus, like sexual assault, where it has taken so long for that whole process and their court dates keep getting pushed back, so I’m a little nervous about that.”
While Morgan was initially charged with resisting arrest and battery of a peace officer, she states: “It’s super up in the air. What can happen is they file the resisting charge but they don’t file the battery, they don’t file any of them, they file all of them, its kind of up to the discretion of the DA.”
Morgan claims that the legal and support services offered by the university have “been helpful, but time-consuming.” Because of the traumatizing incident, Morgan has been referred to CAPS, and says, “They helped out a lot.” She also stated that the “Women’s Center was really insightful, I have been to CARE, been to the legal resource center, been to Student Advocates, Judicial Affairs, I’ve been all over the place.” While these services have been helpful, Morgan claimed: “every time I go somewhere, they recommend me to somewhere else.”
After the incident, Morgan said: “Because Battery was one of my charges I couldn’t get an on-site release and had to bail myself out. I am a little pissed about that, I lost $2500 because this cop lied. I got out at 1:20 am. I missed lectures and a shift at the DLG.” The Santa Barbara County Jail allowed Morgan to go home with her backpack and its contents, but detained her skateboard and banana, telling her she could retrieve it the following day. However, according to Morgan, “The next day I went to get my skateboard and banana back and they told me that I wasn’t going to be able to get my skateboard back until court, which is on the 27th of March, the first Monday of Spring Break. I was kind of taken aback by that. It’s my mode of transportation, I didn’t use it as a weapon or anything. I just skateboarded away. They called me later in the day and told me I could pick it up. When I asked them on the phone about the banana, they didn’t know what I was talking about. So, not all of my possessions were given back to me.”
Because of the inconsistencies with the UCPD and the possibility that excessive force can be a reoccurring issue, Morgan is worried about the safety of her fellow students. Morgan stated that, “This is another issue of police accountability. You shouldn’t be mistreating students, you’re here to protect us. The whole point of them citing people for skateboarding in places they shouldn’t be skateboarding is because it’s a safety risk. That was probably the most violent thing that has happened in the Arbor in the last five years. Them trying to protect people from a runaway skateboard turned into throwing a female student to the ground and sitting on me, and saying that I tried to hit him.”
Morgan continued her statement with, “It’s not ok to hit people, they teach you that in kindergarten. Just because you have a badge and authority does not just give you free range to hurt other people’s bodies, ever.”
However, despite the upcoming challenges she will have to face, Morgan has found some ironic humor in the situation. She said, “I have been skateboarding since I was five years old. I had a sticker on my helmet, and I was so proud of it, and it said, “skateboarding is not a crime.” And the one thing I get arrested for is skateboarding.”