The OU Police Department released body camera footage of two OUPD officers who arrested a former OU student around 10:15 p.m. Nov. 19 during the Bedlam game.
Ishmail Garcia, who previously spoke with OU Daily, obstructed and assaulted an officer, according to an OUPD incident log. Garcia was allegedly intoxicated, resisted arrest and continued to be uncooperative with officers, according to the log.
OU Police Department Chief Nate Tarver wrote in a statement Friday that the body camera footage allowed the department to comprehensively assess the incident, and the community briefing video is intended to show exactly what happened Nov. 19.
OUPD currently owns 10 body camera units, which wasn’t enough to equip all officers on gameday, according to the briefing video.
On Nov. 19, officers from the OUPD and other agencies working the event were called to the east side of the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium to assist with crowd control, according to the community incident briefing video. Garcia refused to leave the aisle of Section 30 before he allegedly assaulted a non-OUPD officer and numerous officers responded to the scene, according to the briefing video.
Body camera footage from the first officer began with them waiting on the ramp outside Section 30. They observed the officers pinning Garcia to the ground after he allegedly assaulted a non-OUPD officer and ran to assist the other officers.
Officers worked to control Garcia’s limbs and handcuff him as he shouted, asking why they would do this, what he did and if they would get off of him. Garcia said he was returning to a section after going to the bathroom and claimed to be a student, although he was last enrolled at OU in fall 2020, according to the briefing video.
Footage showed that Garcia was taken to his feet and walked into a holding area. Footage from the second officer showed that a friend of Garcia’s followed him, bringing a shoe that had fallen off in the altercation.
The friend said it wasn’t a fight and he and Garcia were trying to cross from Section 35 to 28 after going to the bathroom during the first quarter. He said they were walking through, and an officer said they could not go up. He said Garcia and the officer started shoving each other.
Footage eight minutes in from the first officer included an account from the non-OUPD officer who was allegedly assaulted. He said Garcia was trying to get by him, and he told him no because he was trying to get everyone to move down the ramp.
He said his friend started going down, but Garcia said he wasn’t going anywhere and went to push through him. The officer said that’s when he tried to detain Garcia.
Footage from the first officer showed Garcia becoming combative and struggling as he was brought toward a bench around five minutes into the video. Officers tried to subdue him, and one officer asked the others to clear the space so he could move Garcia to the ground away from the edges of the bench, according to the briefing video.
The officer forcefully moved Garcia onto the floor and yelled at him, saying, “Stop fucking fighting us. Do you understand me? Stop fucking fighting. Look at me, Ismail.” According to the briefing video, the defendant went unconscious for an unknown reason, and the officer did not realize this until several seconds later.
“Our goal is that officers present on our campus conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism at all times,” Tarver wrote in the statement. “As for the subject officer, any disciplinary action is considered a confidential personnel matter.”
Officers called for paramedics as Garcia was put into a seated position and regained consciousness. He asked for the name of the officer who was equipped with a body camera, and around seven minutes into the footage, officers moved Garcia onto the bench.
Paramedics arrived a few minutes later, and portions of the audio were muted to protect Garcia’s medical information as his condition was evaluated, according to the briefing video. Garcia was eventually taken to Norman Regional Hospital for evaluation and transported to the Cleveland County Detention Center later that evening.
Garcia was arrested for assault and battery on a police officer, resisting arrest, public intoxication and resisting and obstruction of an officer, according to the briefing video.
Immediately following the incident, the OUPD opened an investigation to determine whether responding officers’ actions were justified because the incident involved the use of force. Following a review by the OUPD and non-OUPD use of force instructors, it was determined the officers maintained appropriate protocols and no officer used excessive force.
“Although the situation was unpredictable, officers acted quickly to keep a highly agitated and possibly intoxicated suspect, all students and bystanders, as well as themselves, safe,” Tarver said. “Nevertheless, even when standard policing protocols are satisfied, we hold ourselves at OUPD to a higher standard. Any officers working on our university grounds are not just agents of the law but stewards of the well-being and security for all of those on campus.”
Tarver said that once a suspect is subdued and in a controlled area, officers should provide for the well-being of the suspect, and one officer fell short as they failed to observe the suspect’s rapidly changing physical condition as he became temporarily unconscious. He said the OUPD will use this as a training moment.
“Our goal is that officers present on our campus conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism at all times,” Tarver said. “As for the subject officer, any disciplinary action is considered a confidential personnel matter.”
