Pubdate: Fri, 13 Mar 2009
Source: Holland Sentinel (MI)
Copyright: 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact: http://extra.hollandsentinel.com/submitletter.shtml
Website: http://www.hollandsentinel.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1145
Author: Megan Schmidt
Note: YouTube: GVSU Protest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG6MBFpSrms&feature=channel_page

GVSU PROTESTERS: 'MARIJUANA OR NOT, UNJUST SHOT!'

Student shot by Ottawa County deputy pleads 'Give peace a chance' to
demonstrators

Allendale, MI - Two days after being shot in the chest by an Ottawa
County deputy, Derek Copp's voice rang out on the Grand Valley State
University campus, Friday, March 13.

Copp's friends and supporters used a bullhorn to project his voice
via cell phone during a campus anti-shooting protest on Friday.

"I love you all, I appreciate everything you have done for me," said
Copp, who remains in stable condition at Spectrum Hospital. "We have
to give peace a chance."

Police said Thursday that a GVSU student, whom they would not name,
was not armed when a deputy shot him in the chest at his off-campus
apartment Wednesday night, March 11.

Five deputies entered the residence at Campus View Apartments through
a sliding glass door on a search warrant for drugs, Lt. Cam Henke of
the West Michigan Enforcement Team said.

WEMET is a drug investigation unit comprised of officers from several
law enforcement agencies, including the Michigan State Police, Ottawa
County Sheriff's Office and Holland Police Department.

Police provided no details on why the deputy -- a 12-year veteran of
the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office -- shot Copp. They did say the
20-year-old student did not threaten or confront police when they
entered the  residence.

Police have also not said what drug they were searching for or if
they recovered any narcotics in the  apartment.

Whether drugs existed in the apartment -- or what kind they were --
is "irrelevant," one GVSU professor said.

"One of our students was denied their due rights," sociology
professor James Vaughn said. "That search warrant could've been
served without violence."

The only drug Copp was known to use was marijuana, his  friend Ben
Shachter said.

"They used the term ; narcotics' but it's just a plant and probably a
misdemeanor charge," Shachter said. "(Copp) has nothing to do with anything
else (besides marijuana)."

Around Shachter, students chanted, "Marijuana or not, unjust shot!"
and "Our campus is not a war zone!"

Others toted signs with messages such as "Ann Arbor =  $25, Allendale
= Shot in the Chest," referencing laws  that decriminalize possessing
small amounts of  marijuana in Ann Arbor.

Some bystanders said they didn't understand staging a protest with so
little official information available about the incident.

"It was an off-campus event, so I think some of this is too much,"
student Jake Glick, 21, said.

Several students who were not taking part in Friday's protest said
they were unaware of the shooting until they saw and heard the rally.
Students said they did not receive any e-mail messages to alert them
to the incident, although a short message was posted on the
university's Web site.

"They probably don't want hysteria and a bunch of kids freaking out,"
student Bret Cocke, 21, said.

The shooting remains under investigation by the Michigan State
Police.

The results of that investigation will be reviewed by the Ottawa
County prosecutor, and the sheriff's office will also conduct an
internal review of the shooting, Undersheriff Greg Steigenga said.

"We understand the sentiments being brought forward by some of the
students, and we respect their opinions," Steigenga said. "We are
trying to be transparent, and we are trying to get to the truth as
much as they are."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin