Gov. Cooper shares ‘deep concern’ after Shaw University students stopped by SC deputies

Gov. Roy Cooper is speaking up after a bus carrying students from a historically Black university in Raleigh was reportedly stopped by law enforcement officers in South Carolina.

On Monday, Shaw University President Paulette Dillard released a statement describing an “unfair and unjust” encounter several Shaw students had while traveling to a conference in Atlanta.

Dillard said the bus, which was carrying 18 students and two advisers, was stopped in Spartanburg County for a “minor traffic violation.”

Officers then boarded the bus and began using drug-sniffing dogs to search the students’ and advisers’ belongings. No illegal items were found, Dillard said.

“I firmly believe had the bus been occupied by white students, they would not have been detained,” she said.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to The News & Observer’s requests for comment.

On Tuesday, Cooper referred to the encounter through a spokesperson, in comments first reported by WRAL.

“The Governor shares the deep concern of Shaw University leaders about the treatment and safety of their students and has asked North Carolina Public Safety officials to discuss this matter with South Carolina law enforcement officials and express that concern,” Press Secretary Sam Chan said.

In Dillard’s statement, she likened the event to racist police violence in the 1950s and ‘60s.

“Armed police, interrogating innocent Black students, conducting searches without probable cause and blood-thirsty dogs. It’s hard to imagine. Yet, it happened to the Shaw University community, and it is happening throughout this nation in alarming fashion. It must be stopped,” Dillard said.

‘Operation Rolling Thunder’

Scottie Kay Blackwell, a spokesperson for Spartanburg County, said nearly 1,000 stops were made last week as part of the department’s annual “Operation Rolling Thunder,” a blitz of traffic stops along the interstate aimed at seizing illicit drugs.

Spartanburg County worked with nearly a dozen other law enforcement agencies to carry out these stops.

According to a Facebook post by the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, officers took on 900 traffic cases, 38 criminal cases and enacted 65 canine searches during the operation.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol was not involved in the incident, according to a spokesperson.

This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 11:37 AM.