From TOS:
"I had posted details on this on Saturday morning as my daughter's roommates were the ones who witnessed/were involved in the Butler altercation and this is their account of what happened.
In a nutshell, the witness accounts from these girls are not consistent with the police report that was filed on Friday night/Saturday morning. They did not have the presence of mind to take any video given how rapidly it all unraveled.
Their account is that Butler and his girlfriend are leaving the ‘Backer around 1230am as these 3 senior female students are approaching the bar. These 3 seniors all have a friendship with Butler that goes back to Freshman year. One of the girls calls out to Butler using a nickname they had for him (Poodle), Butler returns the greeting using the nickname he had for her (Noodle) (BTW, I'm not making this stuff up). Butlers girlfriend (not a ND student) takes exception to the exchange perhaps feeling like the student is being too familiar - she gets in the senior's face, pushes her to the ground and kicks her repeatedly in the head and face. Butler intervenes since the person his girlfriend is assaulting is his long-time close friend. Butler grabs his girlfriend and tosses her away from the girl who is being assaulted. At this point, the police approach Butler from behind and attempt to "break it up", the two remaining female students (the third is now on the ground concussed) stated that it was clear that Butler did not know it was the police who were grabbing him from behind and that he then engaged in a struggle with the police officer. At this point, the two witnesses are more focused on their injured friend laying on the ground than they are on the struggle between Butler and the police so their account of the specifics of things like Butler punching the officer, the tasing of Butler, Butler's ripping off the duty belt etc never came up which is clearly a problem for Butler.
What they did say though was that they tried to provide their account at the scene and were told by the police to leave the scene immediately. They also stated that the police showed no interest in detaining Butler's girlfriend for the assault who, shockingly, was still there at the scene. So the report by the police that the women had left the scene was inaccurate. The girl who had been assaulted was taken to St. Liam's where she was diagnosed with a concussion and facial bruising. They then went to the SBPD to provide a statement on what happened and were turned away being told to come back Monday when the detective was on duty. They summed it up by saying, Butler got drawn into the situation because of his girlfriend’s out of control behavior, Butler tries to help and winds up becoming the focus of the police while the assailant is never questioned and the assaulted party is left to fend for herself. As you can imagine, when the police report came out, they were beside themselves.
Personally, I was surprised that St. Liam's didn't call the police to report what had happened when the student came in with her injuries/concussion. (she wound up in the ER Sunday due to lingering concussion symptoms like nausea etc). I'm also shocked that the police showed no interest in pressing charges against the woman who assaulted the ND student and shocked that they refused to take statements from the witnesses which clearly would have contradicted the police report and potentially led to Butler being given the benefit of the doubt. Also, having met Butler on several occasions and having heard accounts of him through my daughter and her friends - Butler is a genuinely nice person who, at best was in the wrong place at the wrong time or, at worst, had a momentary lapse in judgment that could haunt him for a long time. The whole situation is a complete shame and is being made worse by some questionable practices/decisions by the officers at the scene."
"I had posted details on this on Saturday morning as my daughter's roommates were the ones who witnessed/were involved in the Butler altercation and this is their account of what happened.
In a nutshell, the witness accounts from these girls are not consistent with the police report that was filed on Friday night/Saturday morning. They did not have the presence of mind to take any video given how rapidly it all unraveled.
Their account is that Butler and his girlfriend are leaving the ‘Backer around 1230am as these 3 senior female students are approaching the bar. These 3 seniors all have a friendship with Butler that goes back to Freshman year. One of the girls calls out to Butler using a nickname they had for him (Poodle), Butler returns the greeting using the nickname he had for her (Noodle) (BTW, I'm not making this stuff up). Butlers girlfriend (not a ND student) takes exception to the exchange perhaps feeling like the student is being too familiar - she gets in the senior's face, pushes her to the ground and kicks her repeatedly in the head and face. Butler intervenes since the person his girlfriend is assaulting is his long-time close friend. Butler grabs his girlfriend and tosses her away from the girl who is being assaulted. At this point, the police approach Butler from behind and attempt to "break it up", the two remaining female students (the third is now on the ground concussed) stated that it was clear that Butler did not know it was the police who were grabbing him from behind and that he then engaged in a struggle with the police officer. At this point, the two witnesses are more focused on their injured friend laying on the ground than they are on the struggle between Butler and the police so their account of the specifics of things like Butler punching the officer, the tasing of Butler, Butler's ripping off the duty belt etc never came up which is clearly a problem for Butler.
What they did say though was that they tried to provide their account at the scene and were told by the police to leave the scene immediately. They also stated that the police showed no interest in detaining Butler's girlfriend for the assault who, shockingly, was still there at the scene. So the report by the police that the women had left the scene was inaccurate. The girl who had been assaulted was taken to St. Liam's where she was diagnosed with a concussion and facial bruising. They then went to the SBPD to provide a statement on what happened and were turned away being told to come back Monday when the detective was on duty. They summed it up by saying, Butler got drawn into the situation because of his girlfriend’s out of control behavior, Butler tries to help and winds up becoming the focus of the police while the assailant is never questioned and the assaulted party is left to fend for herself. As you can imagine, when the police report came out, they were beside themselves.
Personally, I was surprised that St. Liam's didn't call the police to report what had happened when the student came in with her injuries/concussion. (she wound up in the ER Sunday due to lingering concussion symptoms like nausea etc). I'm also shocked that the police showed no interest in pressing charges against the woman who assaulted the ND student and shocked that they refused to take statements from the witnesses which clearly would have contradicted the police report and potentially led to Butler being given the benefit of the doubt. Also, having met Butler on several occasions and having heard accounts of him through my daughter and her friends - Butler is a genuinely nice person who, at best was in the wrong place at the wrong time or, at worst, had a momentary lapse in judgment that could haunt him for a long time. The whole situation is a complete shame and is being made worse by some questionable practices/decisions by the officers at the scene."
