When historians run amok...

I...don't even know how to begin commenting on the following incident, which occurred during the recently completed American Historical Association conference in Atlanta:

On Thursday, just after noon, the Tufts historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto was arrested by Atlanta police as he crossed the middle of the street between the Hilton and Hyatt hotels. After being thrown on the ground and handcuffed, the former Oxford don was formally arrested, his hands cuffed behind his back. Several policemen pressed hard on his neck and chest, leaving the mild-mannered scholar, who's never gotten so much as a parking ticket, bruised and in pain.

Read the rest of this bizarre, sorry tale at History News Network, the source also of this photo, which I hope they don't mind me re-printing.



The story is bad enough in words. But...just look at that. Look at it! Just how many cops does it take to arrest one jay-walking historian!?

Apparently, about eight of them.

Is this simply a matter of police overreaction taken to absurd heights (at least the good doctor was not tasered), or do historians have a far more bad-ass reputation than I was aware?

HNN also seems to be maintaining a list of updates on this story, posted here.

One of them leads to the official incident report by the arresting officer. You would think that in his own words there would be something that makes this case sound less surreal. But...you'd be wrong.

The suspect...

approached the roadway from the Marriott Marquis and looked at oncoming traffic as if he wanted to cross the street. I blew my whistle and told him cross only at the crosswalks at either end of the hotel. He darted into traffic and crossed anyway. ... I asked him why he refused to use the crosswalk when signs are clearly posted and a uniformed police officer asked him to use it. He said, 'Thank you for the suggestion.' I said, 'Sir, it was not a suggestion. It was a lawful order.'

Uh..., yeah, absolutely, Officer Fife.

Obviously, I wasn't there. And a witness does say that Fernandez-Armesto was 'belligerent' and 'refused to cooperate'.

However...he was being harassed by someone who was repeatedly demanding 'identification', for crossing the street. A certain belligerence is, I would think, called for.

Fernandez-Armesto, however, had the best line:

Within about two minutes after the struggle began, backup arrived and assisted me in handcuffing Mr. Fernandez-Armesto. He said, 'Well now I believe that you are the police.'

Let it never be said that history is anything but an evidence-based discipline.