Emory University economics professor Caroline Fohlin went viral this week with video of her arrest as police cleared an illegal campus ‘occupy’ protest by Hamas supporters Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia. The shocking video of the female professor being forcibly taken to the ground by a police officer who needed a second officer to control the resisting Fohlin and then her hitting her head on the sidewalk was reposted and viewed millions of times worldwide.
Fohlin was one of two professors arrested at the protest Thursday. The other was Noëlle McAfee, the chair of Emory’s philosophy department.
Fohlin is married to Emory’s Dean of Admission, John F. Latting (He/Him/His).
Fohlin appeared in court on Friday where she was freed on $50 bond. Fohlin’s attorney Gregory Clement issued a statement Friday after her release stating she was not a protester and denying the charges against her, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (scroll down) (excerpt):
All 23 people arrested at Thursday’s protest at Emory have been released from the Dekalb County Jail, records show.
Defendants were released on bond by 6:25 p.m., with all of them except two being released on signature bonds, which are cashless bonds usually used for minor or nonviolent offenses. Bonds were granted to the defendants Friday in magistrate court.
Among the first to be released Friday afternoon was Emory economics professor Caroline Fohlin, who is a tenured professor at the university. Fohlin was granted a $50 bond on a charge of simple battery against a police officer and disorderly conduct. Her arrest was caught on camera and went viral on social media.
“Caroline Fohlin was not a protester at Emory on April 25,” her attorney Gregory Clement said. “She emerged from her office, concerned only about the treatment of students on the quad. She looks forward to vigorously defending the accusations against her in court.”
Video clip of Fohlin admitting to hitting a police officer, “I impulsively hit him on the head very lightly to get his attention and they grabbed me and threw me to the ground and arrested me.”
Here’s that Professor of Economics who was arrested at Emory university and everyone seems to think is some poor victim of police repression. Caroline Fohlin ADMITS she hit a police officer on the head. Even professors are not allowed to assault cops. Yes, even professors. pic.twitter.com/YK5TrZokPD
— Heidi Bachram 🎗️ (@HeidiBachram) April 27, 2024
Video clip of the arrest. Fohlin repeatedly cries out, “I am a professor!” Posted with video of McAfee being detained:
Another beautiful arrest @EmoryUniversity of Caroline Fohlin, professor of economics and #Hamas supporter. The take down as she frantically screams “I’M A PROFESSOR!!!” is just 💅🏼 pic.twitter.com/wOAOsrm8MD
— Michal/Michele -מיכל✡️ 🟦 (@MichalSabra) April 26, 2024
Longer video posted by Atlanta News First of the arrest and Fohlin’s on camera admission. Fohlin said she was concerned for the safety of a protester who was being arrested, claiming she saw the officer’s knee on his neck and was trying get the officer’s attention. Fohlin asked the person recording her detention to call her husband John to help her.
Professor McAfee spoke to WXIA-TV about her arrest (excerpt):
Noëlle McAfee, the chair of the Emory Philosophy Department, spoke to 11Alive’s Brittany Kleinpeter about her arrest that, in the last 24 hours, has been broadcast worldwide.
She said she first saw a young protester thrown to the ground by officers, who were “pummeling them, just pummeling and pummeling.”
“The mother in me said ‘stop. Stop.’ And I made sure to stand four feet away from them, standing still, nonconfrontational, I said, ‘stop’ — one of the cops stood up and got right in front of me and said, ‘Ma’am, you need to step back, you need to step back,'” McAfee, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said. “And I was watching them pummel somebody, I said, ‘no.’ And they arrested me.”
In comments to the Journal-Constitution (scroll down), McAfee slammed the Atlanta police (excerpt):
Noelle McAfee, chair of Emory University’s philosophy department, said she’s been concerned for the past year about Emory “clamping down on student dissent and spaces for expressing their ideas.” McAfee was detained after a Thursday protest and ticketed, but she was not booked into the DeKalb County jail.
She said the reaction to recent demonstrations by the university delegitimized and dismissed student voices, noting the characterization that protestors were outside actors and antisemitic.
“Calling in the Atlanta police is escalating things. Those are the true outside agitators,” she said.
A small peaceful, protest was reportedly held Saturday at Emory with no arrests.