(WGHP) — Delaware State University student-athlete Hannah McMasters said the day her teammates were pulled over on their bus coming from a lacrosse game in Florida is one she will never forget.
McMasters is a former student-athlete of Northern Guilford High School and graduated before heading to Delaware State University.
McMasters wasn’t on the bus physically because of a broken leg. But she got live updates and details as it was happening.
The stop happened in Liberty County Georgia. Deputies pulled over the bus because the driver was in the left lane.
“It made me angry. It made me sad for my teammates that they had to go through this. It made me feel like we’re just a number in the USA that is racially profiled,” McMasters said.
In the deputy worn camera, you can see deputies finding an unmarked package of the teammates that was given to her by a family member.
In the video, you can hear the deputy telling the owner of the box he will open it if she doesn’t know what was in it. The package was later found out to be a dictionary from the teammate’s aunt.
“He claimed that it was some type of narcotic. He opened it, and it was a dictionary. Just because it’s in a white box doesn’t really mean it’s narcotics,” McMasters said.
The sheriff’s Office of Liberty County released a statement and the body-worn camera footage showing the details of the search.
The president of the university, Tony Allen, announced they will file a complaint with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice nearly a month after the traffic stop.
The university said the search left the student-athletes humiliated and accused officials of “misconduct and racially profiling.”
“Being African American in the U.S. today is hard,” McMasters said.