On one side of the courtroom, about 25 students wearing bright orange armbands silently expressed their support for the San Francisco State University professor arrested last month.

On the other, at least 10 campus police officers solemnly defended their department on the Oct. 25 arrest of Black Studies Professor Antwi Akom.

Wednesday’s preliminary hearing showed the sharp difference on how the issue was viewed.
Akom is accused of battering a police officer and resisting arrest.

Defense attorney Lidia Stiglich said she will be replaced by John W. Keker, former special prosecutor against Oliver North in the Iran-Contra scandal.

“I believe he was improperly charged. I believe that he was innocent,” said Keker in a phone interview. He was not at the hearing.

On Oct. 25, Akom was arrested at 11 p.m. on campus by university police, after picking up a book from his office. An altercation occurred and an officer was injured at the scene, police said.

A Superior Court judge lowered Akom’s felony charges to a misdemeanor during his arraignment on Nov. 1.

San Francisco State University President Robert A. Corrigan has since appointed former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Louise H. Renne, president of the San Francisco Police Department Commission, to examine the case. The team has asked for more time and information to thoroughly investigate the incident, said university spokesperson Ellen Griffin.

There were about 10 uniformed university police officers in the courtroom.

John Mindermann, president of the San Francisco Veterans Police Officers Association was also present. He is also a San Francisco State University graduate.

He said campus police should defend their department by speaking to media instead of keeping silent.
“(The arresting officer) was the physical inferior to the professor. He was also the educational and intellectual inferior,” Mindermann said. “What’s coming out here is an imbalance perspective.”

However, students said Akom is innocent and hope the misdemeanor charges are dropped. The incident has also drawn student supporters from other colleges.

“It’s sad that someone whose trying to enlighten people and teach people is caught up in racial profiling,” said Laney College student Boze Curtis Riley, 35. “It seems that you’re really guilty until proven innocent, and that’s not right.”

Akom’s next hearing is on Dec. 5.

Click here to view a copy of the police report