Delaware State president Tony Allen announced the school will file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice in response to the traffic stop conducted by a Georgia law enforcement agency that involved its women’s lacrosse team bus.
“What we believe is that the search was conducted inappropriately and there was implicit racial bias in the search,” Allen said, according to NBC 10 Philadelphia. “Even if they did not know who was on the bus at the time of the stop, there was certainly great certainty who was on that bus once they boarded it. …
“We believe the stop and search raises serious constitutional and civil rights issues.”
The announcement comes amid the April 20 traffic stop conducted by Liberty County sheriffs deputies where players and coaches claimed they were racially profiled.
Allen said he spoke with Liberty County Sheriff William Bowman about the incident, but the two didn’t view it the same way.
“We believe the stop and search raises serious constitutional and civil rights issues,” Allen said. “He disagrees.”
Bowman, who is Black, said deputies had legal justification to make the stop and did not believe the team was racially profiled.
The Delaware Attorney General also sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, asking the agency to conduct an investigation.
“Like so many others, I’m deeply troubled by the actions that our Delaware State University Women’s Lacrosse team and staff endured in Georgia this past April,” the letter stated. “I want to commend these outstanding young women for their valor, and my fellow Delawareans for rallying around them.”
