Raleigh school officer accused of saying people who kneel during anthem are criminals
The Raleigh Police Department is investigating the officer assigned to Enloe High School after he allegedly compared people who kneel during the national anthem to criminals.
Former Enloe student Jack Lowder tweeted on May 30 that school resource officer Dennis Brandenburg had once told him “You know how to catch criminals, right? You just play the national anthem and see who kneels.” Lowder tweeted that “comments like this by people like him manifest into the deaths of unarmed black men.”
Lowder’s tweet has been retweeted more than 450 times as of Thursday. People have been complaining about Brandenburg to Enloe, to the Wake County school system and to Raleigh police.
“I can confirm that this matter is under review and that Brandenburg is assigned to the detective division,” Donna-Maria Harris, a Raleigh police spokeswoman, said in an email Thursday. “As this is a personnel matter, no one with the Raleigh Police Department can provide further comment.”
Brandenburg did not respond to a message left for him Thursday at Raleigh police headquarters by The News & Observer.
Enloe investigating alleged comments
Enloe is also investigating the allegations. Enloe principal Will Chavis sent an email to families this week responding to the situation.
“Most recently a post has circulated regarding alleged, inappropriate remarks from a member of our community,” Chavis said in the message. “We do not condone offensive comments from anyone, and we are actively investigating this matter.
“While Enloe works to become a more equitable and inclusive school, we do not and will not stand for language or action that devalues or discriminates against one group, race or people.”
Chavis doesn’t mention Lowder’s tweet in the message, but Wake school spokeswoman Lisa Luten confirmed he was referring to Brandenburg’s alleged comments.
The issue of kneeling during the playing of the anthem to protest police brutality and racism began in 2016 and was prominently used by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Some say kneeling is being disrespectful to the anthem and the U.S. flag.
Just this week, NFL quarterback Drew Brees said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.” He later penned an apology over his criticism of people who kneel during the anthem.
Lowder said in an interview Thursday that Brandenburg made the comments to him and a handful of other students while at a home soccer game in fall 2017. Lowder said he didn’t speak out about it then because he was still attending Enloe. But he said he felt the need to speak out last week in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, an African American male, by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
“I’m not doing this to get anyone in trouble,” said Lowder, now a student at the University of South Carolina. “I just thought that the information needs to be shared.”
Tweet comes during George Floyd protests
Floyd’s death has sparked nationwide protests, including in Raleigh and Durham, and calls for changes in the education and criminal justice systems. Some school systems, including Minneapolis Public Schools, have ended their programs with law enforcement to provide police officers at schools.
On Monday, the Wake school system released a statement denouncing the “vile” remarks that some students and staff have made about the protests. Those people face disciplinary action from the district. The officer works for the police department so the district has no authority over him.
Lowder said he didn’t expect his social media post to go viral. But he’s also not surprised that people at Enloe, a magnet school in East Raleigh that draws students from across the county, are so alarmed about the alleged comments.
“I just think that the Enloe community, being one of the most diverse public high schools in the state, when it’s shown that the community isn’t as diverse as we thought and the person who is supposed to protect it has a skewed view of people, I just think people took a lot of offense to that,” Lowder said.
Lowder said he’s been interviewed multiple times by Raleigh police Internal Affairs since his tweet.
Ben Hogewood, a former Enloe student, has been urging on Twitter that current and former students contact Raleigh police to raise their own concerns about the officer.
“I directly benefited from racist teachers, admin and SRO at Enloe,” Hogewood tweeted Wednesday. “@WCPSS it is past time to listen and work to fix the injustice happening at our schools. People’s futures and lives depend on changing the system.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 3:49 PM.
