Black college swimmer was held at gunpoint by Illinois cops outside bus, lawsuit says

The only black member of the Eastern Illinois University swim team says he was wrongly arrested and held at gunpoint outside his school charter bus, according to a lawsuit filed by the student along with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Jaylan Butler, 20, is suing the officers from the East Moline Police Department, Hampton Police Department and Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department, saying he was a victim of unlawful search and seizure, false arrest, excessive detention, excessive force, failure by bystanders officers to intervene in unconstitutional conduct, and assault.

“It’s clear they based their decision to arrest and harm Jaylan on the fact that he was a young black man,” said Rachel Murphy, an attorney for ACLU of Illinois.

In the ACLU press release, Butler described how the encounter with the officers affected him: “Now whenever I see a police officer,” he said, “I don’t feel safe—I feel scared and anxious.”

“The East Moline Police Department said they were just served with the lawsuit and the city attorney is reviewing it,” according to WAND. “Calls to the Rock Island County Sheriff and Hampton, Illinois Police Department have not been returned.”

What happened?

The incident occurred Feb. 24, 2019, when Butler’s EIU swim team was traveling back to their Charleston, Illinois, campus from their conference championship in South Dakota, according to the lawsuit. The bus pulled off the road near a rest stop in East Moline, Illinois, and members of the team got off the bus “to stretch their legs,” the lawsuit says.

Butler took a photo of himself in front of a “Buckle Up. It’s the Law” sign, and as he began walking back toward the bus, law enforcement vehicles pulled up in front of him.

“When Mr. Butler saw the law enforcement vehicles pull up, he was surprised and confused, but knew what to do,” Butler’s attorney wrote in the lawsuit, citing advice Butler’s dad previously gave him. “He instantly stopped, put his hands up, dropped the cell phone that was in his hand, and dropped to his knees.”

Officers pointed their guns at Butler and one shouted, “Don’t f----- move! Stay right there,” according to the lawsuit.

Butler did what the officers told him while he was being handcuffed, the lawsuit says, and one of the officers had his knee on Butler’s back while another was pressing down on his neck.

Butler recalled in the lawsuit one moment during the confrontation when an officer is accused of putting a gun against his head and saying, “If you keep moving, I’m going to blow your f------ head off.”

The bus driver and Butler each told the officers he was a member of the EIU swim team and the charter bus was their team bus, according to the lawsuit.

“The one officer was telling Jaylan they were going to arrest him for resisting, but how could they arrest him for something he hadn’t done?” bus driver Todd Slingerland told The Dispatch-Argus. “Their excuse (for taking Butler into custody) was that they thought the bus was being held hostage.

Despite an officer informing a dispatcher the situation was a false alarm, Butler remained forced “to lie face down on the ground while handcuffed” and he was then told he was being arrested for resisting arrest, according to the lawsuit.

Butler was picked up and forced into a police cruiser, where he remained for several minutes, the lawsuit alleges. He was eventually released from police custody without an explanation as to why he was detained and arrested, according to the lawsuit.

Records obtained by The Dispatch-Argus show Illinois State Police and the Henry County Sherrif’s Department were in pursuit that night of a man in a vehicle who shot at a truck.

“I’m an old Navy man,” Slingerland told the newspaper. “I’ve seen a lot, but I’ve never seen anybody screw something up as bad as they did this, especially the first two (officers). None of this makes any sense.”

Butler asked for the officers’ information to file a complaint, but they ignored the request, the lawsuit alleges. They also did not document the stop and search or give Butler a receipt, which is an Illinois state law, per the lawsuit.

The aftermath

After the team went back on the bus, the mood shifted and some were crying, The Dispatch-Argus reported. Butler tried to reassure the team that he was OK, but he said it was hard “to keep that front going.”

“When we switched out drivers at another rest stop, getting off the bus, everyone was next to me, staying as close as possible,” Butler told the newspaper. “The assistant coach hugged me and said he loved me. That kind of brought on the tears.”

Butler said he was “traumatized” by the incident and has felt “angry, scared and depressed,” according to the lawsuit.

“In class the next day, Mr. Butler found himself staring down at the bruises around his wrists, replaying the previous night’s events in his head until finally he realized his class had ended and he was the only person still sitting there,” his attorney said in the lawsuit.

One day following the incident, he “began to tear up” after seeing multiple officers responding to a crash scene, the lawsuit alleges. Butler started going to a therapist due to trauma and depression, the attorney said.

The ACLU attorney said Butler’s experience “is an example of the harmful police interactions that people of color experience far too often,” she said.

“These officers forcibly arrested and searched Jaylan without reasonable suspicious, probable cause, or any other lawful justification,” Murphy stated in the ACLU release. “They never told Jaylan why he was being arrested, even after they realized their mistake.”

What’s next?

A sophomore from St. Louis, Butler remains the only black person on his university’s swim team, the team’s roster shows. Most recently, he won the 100-meter butterfly in a meet against Western Illinois earlier this month.

Next week, Butler will be a part of the EIU swim team’s contingent at The Summit League Championships back in South Dakota. The championships will mark one year since Butler says he was wrongfully arrested.

Butler told the Dispatch-Argus that a year after the incident, he is disappointed by the actions of the officers.

“I know not all officers are like that, but it was pretty disappointing — what it’s like to be of color in America,” he said.

The case is now in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. Butler seeks compensatory and punitive damages and judgment that the officers violated his rights, according to the lawsuit.