Fracesca Brumley, a life-long resident of Portage County, stood in front of Black United Students last night as a mother with a plea.

Last July, her son had been “beat up and handcuffed by (local) police real bad” during an apparent drug bust where her son was hanging out. After being placed under arrest, Brumley said her son never received medical attention and is still being held untreated on $50,000 bond, Brumley said.

Unable to post the bond and get her son medical treatment, Brumley has decided to call together the Kent State and Portage communities this Saturday to address local police hate crime and brutality.

“This is not the nice town that they claim it is,” Brumley said.

The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. in Room 272 of Kent State’s Gym Annex.

Sasha Parker, BUS president, said local police have always harassed African Americans, but that many students let harassment and abuse go unreported because it happens often.

“I will be in contact with Brumley to see how we can help,” Parker said.

Contact minority affairs reporter David Yochum at [email protected].