UMass student sues Amherst police officers who arrested him for videotaping officers at Blarney Blowout
February 25, 2015
By Diane Lederman

SPRINGFIELD - A lawyer for University of Massachusetts Amherst student Thomas Donovan on Tuesday filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Amherst police officers, charging they assaulted and falsely arrested him for videotaping police during the Blarney Blowout last March.

The suit names Jesus Arocho, Andrew Hulse and John Does 1 through 3 as defendants.

According to the suit's complaint, "Mr. Donovan recorded Amherst police using what appeared to be too much force while making an arrest. Although Mr. Donovan filmed the officers from behind a fence, at a safe distance, and did not interfere with them, an officer wearing full riot gear and carrying a pepper-ball gun--believed to be Defendant Andrew Hulse--approached Mr. Donovan to prevent him from filming."

"When Mr. Donovan did not stop filming, another officer pepper sprayed him at close range," according to the suit.

"Mr. Donovan continued to film until, a few seconds later, Defendant Jesus Arocho knocked the phone out of his hand and threw him to the ground. Defendant Arocho, assisted by Defendant Andrew Hulse, placed Mr. Donovan under arrest," the suit charges.

Amherst police repeatedly stomped on the phone in a failed attempt to destroy it, the suit contends.

The complaint filed in federal court today and a copy of Arocho's arrest report is embedded at the end of this article.

The suit contends Arocho's arrest report falsely states that Donovan approached the police officers making an arrest, that he refused orders "to leave the area, and that he was pepper sprayed as he began to close the distance between himself and the officers. The video shows these statements are not true."

All criminal charges were later dismissed.

As a result of the charges, UMass suspended Donovan for a semester. The university lifted the suspension after its investigation cleared Mr. Donovan of any wrongdoing, according to the suit.

Boston-based attorney David Milton, who filed the suit, is looking for punitive damages and is demanding a jury trial. He is a member of the law offices of Howard Friedman, which specializes in civil rights and police misconduct litigation.

Here is video of the incident, according to the Friedman law offices, which posted the video on its website:

Former Boston Police Chief Edward Davis, a consultant hired by UMass, looked at what went wrong and what the town and the university can do together and separately to prevent such an event from reoccurring. He cited a series of missteps by police, including the premature firing of pepper spray. At the same time, Davis' report noted that police were facing "overwhelming odds," contending with the more than 4,000 people who had gathered.