Contact:
Eric Christopher Webb, DDiv., CPLC
Director of Communications
/Editor of The Sphinx
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Cell: 443-635-5911
July 22, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. condemns the Oakland Police Department’s conduct and violent arrest of Alpha Brother and motorist Brandon Calloway captured in a now viral video in Oakland, Tennessee last Saturday.
Within 24 hours of the incident, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. General President Dr. Willis L. Lonzer contacted Brother Calloway, a 2016 initiate of the Eta Phi Chapter and graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN. While we do not know all the facts, the incident is disturbing, and we stand with our Brother Calloway and his family.
Currently, the Fraternity demands a fair and transparent investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other authorities. Incidents like these further highlight law enforcement’s perceived disparity in its treatment of people of color and lack of professionalism seen in the viral video of the incident.
We also urge the Oakland Police Department and all law enforcement to revisit their engagement and usage of force practices and procedures.
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. refuses to remain silent when people of color, particularly members of our fraternity, are treated unfairly and brutalized.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation and communicate appropriate actions.
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About Alpha Phi Alpha
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., headquartered in Baltimore, MD, was founded on December 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The Fraternity has long stood at the forefront of the African-American community’s fight for civil rights through Alpha men such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Adam Clayton Powell, Thurgood Marshall, Paul Robeson, Andrew Young, Edward Brooke and Cornel West. The fraternity, through its more than 720 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Visit and follow on Twitter @apa1906network.