Video of Jeffrey Michel’s arrest on the Brookdale campus Friday. (Video posted by Vincent Cordero)
By JOHN T. WARD
Video of the arrest of a Freehold man on the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College last Friday has gone viral, with numerous commenters claiming it shows overly aggressive policing.
The video, posted on the Facebook page of Victor Cordero early Saturday morning, had been viewed nearly 258,000 times by Monday morning and generated numerous comments, both critical of and in support of the police.
The circumstances of the arrest, however, remain unclear. Neither Michel nor Cordero, also a Freehold resident, could be reached for immediate comment.
A call to the Brookdale campus police office was referred to the college’s media relations office, which sent redbankgreen this statement:
“Brookdale student Jeffrey Michel, 27, was being placed under arrest by Brookdale police officers on Nov. 14 as the result of an ongoing investigation. He was charged with harassment, obstruction, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has been notified and is conducting an investigation. We are fully cooperating with the investigation and, as a result, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
In his Facebook posting, Cordero describes Michel as “an innocent student… who came to campus at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft New Jersey to do nothing but study for his education in nursing to help provide for his 2 year old daughter.”
He says Michel “was harassed and unlawfully arrested and never once read his rights.”
Michel repeatedly tells police that he isn’t doing anything wrong and asks for an explanation of why he’s being arrested.
“Tell me what law I broke,” he says several times.
A female officer tells him he’s being arrested for “obstruction,” and when he presses her for more, she says, “obstruction of our questioning. You don’t want to provide us with ID, or your name, and you have to.”
Michel himself weighed in on the video with a comment late Saturday morning that said: “For anyone who thinks I did anything wrong FUCK YOU.”
Video of the arrest of a Freehold man on the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College last Friday has gone viral, with numerous commenters claiming it shows overly aggressive policing.