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Police Were Called On Black UMass Amherst Employee Walking To Work

The UMass Amherst campus in 2016.
Mark Bonica

A longtime employee of the University of Massachusetts Amherst said plainclothes officers came to his office to question him after someone called police to report an "agitated black male" on campus.

Reginald Andrade told The Daily Hampshire Gazette he was following his normal daily routine Friday, walking from his morning workout to his job in the disability office in the main administration building.

UMass Amherst sent a letter to the campus community regarding the incident.

UMass Amherst Sept. 16, 2018 letter to campus community by New England Public Radio on Scribd

Andrade said officers questioned him without telling him why. The building was locked down for about 30 minutes.

Andrade said it was a clear case of racial profiling. He said the caller knew what buzzwords to use to "push the buttons of law enforcement."

Campus Police Chief Tyrone Parham told The Massachusetts Daily Collegian student newspaper, which first reported the incident, officers "tried to be as professional" as possible.

This report includes information from The Associated Press.

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