Five student organizers of Tuesday’s rally for Kofi Adu-Brempong, the graduate student recently shot by the University Police Department, met with President Bernie Machen and other administrators Thursday afternoon to discuss what the university can do to help meet protesters’ demands.
Machen was receptive to the protesters’ demands regarding the creation of a police review board comprised of students and citizens, the improvement in mental health services on campus and the dropping of charges against Adu-Brempong, said UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes, who was not in attendance.
If the investigations recommended dropping the charges against Adu-Brempong, Machen said the university would have no problem doing so, according to Sikes.
Dave Schneider, one of the protesters at the meeting, said Machen has not explicitly endorsed or accepted any of the demands but added that Machen said none of the demands is off the table.
Schneider said Machen wants to wait for the results of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation to be released before making decisions regarding the demands related to the dissolution of the Critical Incident Response Team and the unpaid suspension of officer Keith Smith.
