Under the Baobab: Disturbances on the streets in Happy Valley

On March 19, 2019 Sylvester Osagie became worried about his son, Osaze. He had not heard from him in a while. Osaze, a 29-year-old, had been diagnosed with some mental health issues. Sylvester worried that he might not be taking his prescribed medication. He called the State College police to ask for their assistance in locating his son.

Sylvester and two officers went to Osaze’s apartment, which he shared with a roommate. When they could not find him, it was suggested to Sylvester that he file a 302 mental health warrant. A 302 permits authorities to bring a person to a mental health facility for observation to determine whether they should be admitted for treatment.

The next day, March 20, Osaze was seen returning to his apartment after going to a nearby supermarket. Three armed police officers, coming from different locations knocked on Osaze’s door. They had blocked the peephole so that Osaze could not see who was at his door. Less than a minute later Osaze was dead or dying, having been shot three times, twice in the back, by one of the officers and tazed by another. The officers say that he had attacked them with a steak knife.

In early May, the district attorney and the police department conducted an internal investigation which determined that the officers had acted in accord with police procedures Osaze was a Black man. The officers were white. None of the 65 borough’s police officers are Black. The investigations determined that race was not a factor in these events. The officers after a short paid administrative leave were returned to full duty. For their protection their names were not released to the public.

A few weeks later the State College Borough Council conducted a hearing. Members of the public were asked to testify. Of the 16 people who gave testimony, both Black and white citizens, all questioned the premise of whether race was a factor. They posited the question — if Osaze had been white would he still be alive?

I was one of those witnesses. Full disclosure — Sylvester and his wife Iyun are dear friends of ours. In 2003 we went on a Fulbright Study grant to Ghana together. Professor Iyun Osagie is from Sierra Leone. She is one of the leading authorities on the Amistad case. (John Quincy Adams successfully defended Africans who had been kidnapped and illegally transported to Boston). Sylvester is also an employee of Penn State. They want to know what happened on March 20. They have engaged a local attorney, Andrew Shubin, to bring a civil action against the borough and police department.

They are not alone in their concerns. Local citizens have organized a group called the 3/20 Coalition. They have organized marches, demonstrations and other actions to bring attention to this tragedy in our community. The 3/20 Coalition provided the leadership for weekly marches last month. They attracted nearly 1,000 people. They coincided with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations held in the United States and around the world.

These locally-led events were not conducted by outside agitators or antifa. They were organized by our neighbors and the children of our neighbors, voicing legitimate concerns about matters of race, policing and patterns of white supremacy. They have other suggestions for reform: 1. Implementation of a Community Advisory Board to address discrimination, bias and racism in local government and police, 2. Divestment of guns during the service of mental health checks and mental health warrants, 3. Revision of standard operating procedures, which emphasize de-escalation strategies to be used during engagement and consequences for failure to execute, 4. Public access to officer misconduct information and disciplinary history when death results, 5. Public release of protocol and body cam footage for officers accused of misuse of force and race-based policing, 6. Financial compensation to the Osagie family, 7. Transparency and the release of policing data regarding policing, with special attention to race and ethnicity, 8. A reallocation of funding away from the local police department to programs that address root causes of suffering and violence.

The State College Borough Council has responded by proposing to: 1. Create a Community Oversight Group, 2. Hire a Borough Equity Officer to support and promote diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in State College, 3. Hold a special work session to discuss current police training and future training needs, 4. Discuss the distribution of funds across the police department in the next budget planning cycle, so concerns like mental health, housing and community programming are also addressed, 5. Support police reform efforts proposed by the Pennsylvania Black Legislative Caucus by calling on local politicians to also offer their support.

Brothers and sisters, this is not a disturbance; it is dialogue. And it’s about time.