Exclusive: Video and documents reveal details of Muscogee County football team fights

A Ledger-Enquirer investigation into the fights that erupted among members of the Carver High School football team last season reveals more details than previously reported about what happened and why — and the ramifications of the confrontations.

The fights involving Carver assistant coaches and players occurred Oct. 27 at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany after Carver beat Dougherty County 30-0.

The fights spurred criminal charges, detailed below, and the firings of assistant coaches Anthony Harvey and Oreande Glover Jr., but the Muscogee County School District’s disciplinary action against the students remains publicly unspecified and unclear.

Although the Ledger-Enquirer told MCSD that the L-E wouldn’t publish the names of those students, MCSD attorney Greg Ellington of the law firm Hall Booth Smith in Columbus wrote this response in an email Monday to the Ledger-Enquirer:

“We believe that the identities of some or all of the students who were involved may already be publically (sic) known,” Ellington wrote. “The fact that the article would not name individuals does not protect the confidentiality of the information. In general terms, students involved were suspended and referred to disciplinary tribunals. Students found guilty received varying lengths of assignments to the alternative school based on factors which included their own conduct at issue as developed from evidence introduced in the tribunal hearings and each student’s disciplinary history.”

Georgia Press Association general counsel David Hudson cited Georgia Code 20-2-757(b) in response to the Ledger-Enquirer’s query:

“… the board of education shall prepare a written summary of any proceeding under this subpart, which summary shall include a description of the incident and the disposition thereof but shall not contain the names of any party to the incident. The summary shall be a public record.”

Meanwhile, at the MCSD board meeting in December, a former president of the Columbus NAACP branch alleged that the board overturned the district’s disciplinary tribunal’s decision about punishing the students. Given multiple chances to refute that allegation, MCSD didn’t before publication.

Asked for the employment status of the two assistant coaches since they were relieved of their coaching duties at Carver, Ellington told the Ledger-Enquirer, “. . . the community coach (Harvey) was dismissed and has no other employment status with the District. As an annual contract employee, the other (Glover Jr.) was temporarily reassigned to a vacant itinerant position for the remainder of this contract year.”

To gain a fuller understanding of what occurred that day and the ramifications of those actions, the Ledger-Enquirer made requests for information under the Georgia Open Records Act. The L-E received the following documents.

• The Dougherty County Schools Police report about the incident.

• The Muscogee County School District summary of its investigation.

• Video of one of the three fights.

Documents reveal events leading up to fights

A feud between the two assistant coaches, Harvey and Glover Jr., also involved Glover’s father. It began smoldering three days before the game and subsequent fights. A heated phone conversation and text messages fueled the dispute that exploded Oct. 27.

After the Carver Tigers routed Dougherty in the game, Glover’s father confronted Harvey on the field about those interactions, and punches were exchanged, according to the reports.

In the locker room, Harvey and Glover Jr. got into an argument, triggering a fight between them. Then several players fought with Glover Jr., according to the reports and video.

Dougherty County Schools Police report

Listed as offenders are:

• 42-year-old Anthony T. Harvey, a Carver assistant coach, arrested Nov. 6 and charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a public school and simple assault and battery.

• An 18-year-old Carver player, arrested Nov. 6 and charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a public school and simple assault and battery.

• An 18-year-old Carver player, arrested Nov. 6 and charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a public school and simple assault and battery.

• A 17-year-old Carver player. No criminal charges are noted.

• A 17-year-old Carver player. No criminal charges are noted.

• A juvenile Carver player. No criminal charges are noted.

Georgia law keeps the juvenile’s name from being disclosed. Ledger-Enquirer policy keeps the names of the other players from being published in this story because of their ages, their charges are misdemeanors, and they aren’t public figures.

According to the DCPS report, an officer heard a commotion between several Carver football coaches on the east side of the stadium. That resulted in additional fights involving two coaches and five players.

Warrants were issued for Harvey and four players. A complaint was issued for a fifth player, a juvenile.

Police wanted to charge Glover Jr. for battery and simple battery, according to the report, but Dougherty County Magistrate Judge Victoria Johnson refused to sign the warrants.

“She stated that due to conflicting verbal statements provided the night of the incident and verbal statements obtained Nov. 8,” the report says, “she felt as though there was not enough probable cause to issue warrants on Glover Jr.”

As of Feb. 15, the criminal charges were pending prosecution in Dougherty County’s state court.

MCSD investigation summary

MCSD’s investigation was conducted by its human resources division. Parts of the summary MCSD released to the Ledger-Enquirer were redacted to comply with state laws.

The report includes a written statement from Harvey about the incident.

On Oct. 24, three days before the game, Harvey sent a text message to Glover Jr. saying that he saw Glover Jr. “pick on” a Carver football player for not wearing proper shorts at practice. Harvey wrote that Glover Jr. singled out this player despite “several other players” also not wearing proper shorts.

The next day, Oct. 25, Glover Jr. told this player he couldn’t practice until he “runs 25 hills,” Harvey wrote.

The next day, Oct. 26, Harvey advised this player to “have a sit-down conversation” with head coach Pierre Coffey “to let him know what is going on,” Harvey wrote. At that meeting, this player was told by an undisclosed coach he couldn’t play in the game.

The next day, Oct. 27, Glover Jr.’s father, Oreande Glover Sr., called Harvey and told him that Glover Jr. and Harvey “had some issues or problems,” Harvey wrote. Harvey asked Glover Sr. why he was calling him “about a situation on our job,” Harvey wrote. “As he started to get loud, I hung up the phone.”

After the game at Dougherty County, while Coffey met with the team on the field, Glover Sr. approached Harvey and stated, “What that (expletive) you was talking on the phone,” Harvey wrote, “and punched me.”

A fight between Harvey and Glover Sr. ensued on the field. Police separated them and took them to the locker room.

“Coach Glover walks in,” Harvey wrote, “I stated you brought your daddy to come out of town to fight me. He threw a punch, and I threw a punch.”

‘A cancer to the program’

Three days later, on Oct. 30, Coffey provided an MCSD employee relations investigator with a written statement. Coffey wrote that Harvey, in his Oct. 24 text message to Glover Jr., called Glover Jr. “a cancer to the program.”

Coffey also described the Oct. 27 fight between Glover Sr. and Harvey on the field. Coffey wrote that Glover Sr. asked Harvey, “What was that (expletive) you was talking?” Glover Sr. pushed Harvey in the face, Coffey wrote, to begin the fight.

Police handcuffed Glover Sr., and Coffey told Glover Jr. to not enter the locker room, Coffey wrote, but Glover Jr. entered a few minutes later.

Harvey told Glover Jr., according to Coffey, “I can’t believe your (expletives) had your dad come down here to fight me.” Harvey approached Glover Jr. and swung, and they began to fight, Coffey wrote.

After they were separated, some players began to fight with Glover Jr., according to Coffey. Police handcuffed Glover Jr., and the players involved were released to their parents.

Coffey reiterated in his Oct. 30 interview with an MCSD human resources investigator that Harvey initiated the fight with Glover Jr.

The investigation summary MCSD sent the Ledger-Enquirer doesn’t include a statement from Glover Jr., and MCSD officials didn’t explain why before publication.

Carver assistant football coaches fired

On Oct. 28, the day after the fights, Carver principal Christopher Lindsey fired Glover Jr. and Harvey from their coaching duties, according to the MCSD report.

An MCSD employee relations coordinator wrote that he told Harvey on Nov. 3, “He is not to attend Carver games, nor is he to come to the school except to pick up and drop off (redacted name). This is effective until further notice.”

On Nov. 8, Glover Jr. decided to press charges against Harvey, according to the MCSD report.

On Nov. 17, two MCSD officials told Glover Jr. he is being temporarily transferred to Johnson and Downtown elementary schools until Dec. 20 and that he couldn’t attend Carver football games for the rest of the year.

Also on Nov. 17, the same MCSD officials told Harvey that he no longer could be a community coach in the school district and no longer could attend Carver football games.

MCSD communications director Kimberly Wright explained in an email to the L-E the definition of a community coach.

“A community coach is someone who does not work in a full-time capacity for MCSD,” she wrote. “They still apply for a job and have a background check but are only ‘employed’ as coaches. A community coach cannot be a head coach, only an assistant coach. An assistant coach is someone who works with an athletic team under the direction of a head coach.”

Carver football team fight video

The video MCSD released to the Ledger-Enquirer appears to show the final fight of the night, the one between Glover Jr. and several students. It appears to be taken with a cellphone in the locker room after the Oct. 27 game in Albany.

It starts with the fight already in progress. It shows Glover Jr. fighting with a student for several seconds. Then they are joined by a few other students in a scuffle, which makes it difficult to determine whether they also are fighting or are trying to break up the fight.

Asked whether this video is the only video MCSD has that depicts any of the fights, Ellington told the Ledger-Enquirer, “The video is the only known video of the incident.”

During the Dec. 11 MCSD board meeting, Ed DuBose, former president of the Columbus NAACP branch, told the board that Glover Jr. is his grandson.

Glover Jr. “suffered an injury to the head, a contusion of the scalp, a neck sprain and a sprain of his left shoulder,” from the fight with at least six students at one time, DuBose said.

DuBose alleged the school board overturned the MCSD disciplinary tribunal’s decision about punishing the students.

“It’s certainly unheard of when an incident like this happens and the students end up back in the school system — in some cases, some of them with no charges, no punishment, no nothing,” he said.

The Ledger-Enquirer asked MCSD to respond to DuBose’s allegation.

“Student discipline issues are confidential under federal law,” Wright wrote in a Feb. 2 email.

Tuesday, Ellington told the L-E in an email, “With regards to the comment you attribute to Mr. Dubose, the students involved were suspended and referred to disciplinary tribunals. Students found guilty received varying lengths of assignments to the alternative school based on factors which included their own conduct at issue as developed from evidence introduced in the tribunal hearings and each student’s disciplinary history.”

The L-E also asked MCSD who are the tribunal members and who appoints them. MCSD didn’t provide their names, but Ellington wrote, “Tribunal members are selected from a pool of Board-approved list of administrators who have no affiliation with those involved in the hearing.”

MCSD board chairwoman Pat Hugley Green acknowledged during the December meeting that board members have seen the video.

“What you are talking about are matters that are not for public discussion,” Green told DuBose. “You can talk about your family or whatever you want to talk about. But, as far as the others, and particularly the students, that’s not for public discussion. … I think I can speak for the board that we advocate for the safety of all the employees and our students and our families.”

MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email, “Interscholastic athletic competition is a privilege and an extension of the classroom. As such, this incident was unfortunate, unacceptable, and not in keeping with our district’s expectations for student-athletes and coaches.

“The principal and head coach immediately and effectively addressed the matter,” Lewis continued. “While regrettable, it is important to put this incident in perspective by noting that the MCSD affords thousands of student-athletes the many benefits of athletic competition in hundreds of contests each year without incident.”