Quad-City area police being sued by the ACLU in the case involving a collegiate swimmer who was mistakenly taken into custody at an area rest stop are saying the young man was resisting arrest.
The ACLU filed suit earlier this year on behalf of Jaylan Butler, a 19-year-old member of the Eastern Illinois University swim team mistaken for a shooting suspect when he stepped off the college’s bus at a rest area near East Moline in February of 2019.
Butler and the driver of the bus, Todd Slingerland, said police cars screamed into the rest area with lights flashing. They spotted Butler, the only black member of the swim team, and ordered him to the ground. Both men said Butler instantly complied with police orders. Butler said he has been instructed by his father most of his life to obey law enforcement.
Four officers from three departments named in the suit have filed responses with the court that include claims Butler resisted arrest.
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