Michigan Libertarian Says He Was Roughed Up By Campus Cops For Trying to Document Election Irregularities

Perpetual Libertarian Party candidate and former chair of the
Michigan L.P. Scott Boman says he was roughed up by campus cops–on
a campus where he teaches!–just for photographing what he thinks
were election law violations.

Account from the Examiner:

A popular Michigan math and physics professor will soon stand
trial in Detroit’s 36th District Court for trespassing in a public
space at his own place of employment…[Wayne County Community
College District]

Boman, Vice-Chairman of the Libertarian Party
of Michigan, recently rejected the prosecutor’s offer to drop the
trespassing charge if he would concede that his arrest was
justified….

The professor’s pre-trial hearing will be held on January 15,
and he will have a jury trial on January 29….

What Boman says happened:

….after teaching class on July 30, Boman stopped by an
absentee voting event being held at the WCCCD Northwest Campus.

…..Boman began taking pictures of signs that were posted by
the incumbent City Clerk Janet Winfrey. These signs were in
violation of election laws. For example, one sign was hanging over
the entrance of the voting location’s building entrance.

….WCCCD Security Officer Olivia Moss-Fort stormed out of the
polling place and shouted, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Boman responded that he was taking pictures, and continued to do
so since the officer would not tell him which law he was
violating…..

Boman then attempted to join other candidates and volunteers who
were handing out campaign literature in the area. While Boman was
passing out his cards, he says that Moss-Fort swatted his hand, and
two or three additional officers threw him to the ground, breaking
the skin on his right shoulder. He was then cuffed and led
away.

“I lost control of my right arm,” he said. “They kept me bound,
isolated and without water for 3.25 hours, to intimidate me from
attending a candidate forum.” He also said that the officers
laughed at him while he was stuck in handcuffs.

By the time his camera was returned, incriminating video he took
of the police was deleted.

The campus cops deny Boman’s account, and although there is
generally a 24 hour security camera covering the area, they claim
there is no video record of what really happened. They claim his
real crime was taking pictures with students in them when students
allegedly asked him not to take their picture.

Boman’s own full
account of the incident, which has nothing about being told to
not photograph students, but has many details of being detained
initially without charges in a closet, cuffed painfully, and denied
water.

Boman has run
for some statewide office every election year since 1994 in
Michigan.