Navarro College Report on Post-basketball Game Incident

KILGORE — A Navarro College report issued Friday about a February disturbance after a Kilgore College basketball game says KC police were unjustified in pepper-spraying Navarro players. According to the Longview News-Journal, Navarro�s 29-page report sent to media outlets conflicts with an earlier report by Kilgore College Police Chief Martin Pessink, who concluded his two officers had used force necessary to address an escalating threat of violence. Pessink, and a private investigator who reviewed the Kilgore chief�s work, also concluded Kilgore College police should have controlled the crowd better. That report concluded the incident largely arose from the actions of a woman whom Pessink identified as a Navarro employee stirring up coaches and fans.

The Navarro report, however, said the after-game disturbance was the result of obscene, profane heckling by men whom Navarro staff thought were members of the Kilgore College football team, which lost a controversial playoff game to Navarro College a few months before.

During the Feb. 23 basketball match-up between the two schools, Kilgore defeated Navarro 88-78, leading to a celebration at mid-court. According to Kilgore College, the center-court celebration upset some players from Navarro, who �began verbalizing their disapproval which began to inflame the crowd.� Both teams by then were in their respective locker rooms. In its report, Kilgore College said Navarro College players were pepper sprayed after making threats against Kilgore College police officers who were restraining them.

In contrast, the Navarro report blamed the incident on misconceptions by Kilgore personnel. The witnesses indicated a crowd of 12 to 20 men, believed to be Kilgore College football players, heckled the team with obscene and profane comments which �went unabated throughout the game.� That heckling prompted Navarro coach Deborah Bonner to demand that it stop. Navarro witnesses said there was �apparent poor crowd control� and that several of the males involved in the heckling approached the Navarro bench � prompting a volunteer videographer to blow his whistle, as he feared a fight might break out.

Kilgore College spokesman Chris Craddock issued a statement in response to the Navarro report, noting there are two sides to any story involving a violent situation.