F&M gendarmes deliver a beatdown to Ron Harper:

The incident was captured on videotape until the camera was ripped from Harper’s hands. It took place on a public road in Lancaster Township nearly 3/4 of a mile from the campus at approximately 2:00 p.m. June 3, 2008.  Mr. Harper and co-Publisher, Chris Hart Nibbrig, met on Marietta and School Lane in order to place one of their newspaper boxes on a public right of way.  A box had been stolen over the previous weekend.

After the box was legally installed, a phalanx of Franklin & Marshall security vehicles descended on the journalists.  Approximately six officers surrounded Harper and took his video camera, which he was using up to this point.  Mr. Hart Nibbrig was taking pictures of the encounter.  His camera was also confiscated and when the camera was returned pictures of the assault were deleted.

Mr. Harper, who is recovering from a vehicle accident, was then body slammed to the ground by four of the officers, although he could be heard saying, “I am not resisting.”

That from a press release issued by Nibbring.

For the record, the corner of Marietta and School Lane appears to be just down the road from F&M President John Fry’s house.

In other words - F you, John Fry, have some Lancaster Posts.

Not sure what’s happened here and I’m sure we’ll hear allllllll about it in the coming days. Harper and Nibbring want a federal investigation, and if this took place on public property that might be warranted. This is obviously all related to the charge that someone’s been stealing their free paper, and Harper and Nibbring think that someone is related to F&M. But Harper’s already been ordered, legally, to stay off F&M property, and Fry’s home is that. Very likely F&M security was ordered to be on the lookout for Harper; then he showed up and, while perhaps not technically on F&M property, the cops just went ballistic.

Well, cops can’t go ballistic. Stay tuned.