Shaw University files official complaint, chancellor says students racially profiled on bus

Dillard said one deputy boarded the bus on Oct. 5 and asked the driver where he was headed. Multiple sheriff deputies and a drug-sniffing dog searched the suitcases of the students and staff located in the luggage racks beneath the bus after the driver consented to the luggage compartment being searched.

Nothing was found.

Deputies said they initiated the stop because the driver was swerving. The driver was issued a warning ticket for improper lane use.

The complaint states a deputy boarded the bus, blocking the exit, and informed the Hispanic driver the bus was "swerving real bad within the lanes and bumping the yellow line."

The deputy asked the driver about their destination and the ages of the students, who were all Black. The officer asked the students if they "had anything up underneath the bus or anything that's not supposed to be there."

The deputy searched and found a box of donuts and allergy medication. Nothing illegal was found.

"The real issue is why and how a minor traffic violation immediately turned into a drug search," said Dillard.

Deputies used a drug-sniffing dog that hit on one bag. But the complaint accuses deputies of searching several others, without students’ consent.

Abuse of authority? Retired judge, law professor question practices used during traffic stop of Shaw University students

Legal experts WRAL News spoke with said the deputies' actions were uncalled for. They wanted more to be done to find out if the stop was racially motivated.

“The additional bags they opened were green and purple and blue. They were not the original bag. This was a continued search to find contraband. They did not find anything except for the donuts and prescription allergy medication," said Dan Blue, an attorney who wants the Department of Justice to take a closer look at how many searches stem from minor traffic offenses – and to analyze any racial disparities that might exist.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright stated in a press conference the deputies were concerned the bus driver was falling asleep, and that's why the driver was pulled over. He said the bus was searched with dogs because his deputies frequently seize drugs trafficked on Greyhound buses along that stretch of Interstate 85.

"The harmful effects of eroding individual rights under the pretext of law and order are real – and they are rampant all over the country," Dillard said on Monday. "But especially in this particular area in South Carolina, which has been called out previously for inequitable and discriminatory patterns of practice for disproportionate excessive searches and seizures of Black people without probable cause."

Shaw University president says students racially profiled, searched during school trip in SC

Dillard released a written statement immediately following the traffic stop, writing, "In a word, I am outraged. This behavior of targeting Black students is unacceptable and will not be ignored nor tolerated. Had the students been white, I doubt this detention and search would have occurred."

NC Democratic lawmakers ask Justice Department to investigate October search of Shaw University bus

In the complaint, Shaw University requests an investigation into the search of the students and an investigation of the Spartanburg County and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Offices "for civil rights violations.”

Key areas of concern highlighted in the complaint include:

Dillard said she's sorry the students had to go through the experience, saying, "We are still reminded in this country, for some people, even being innocent is not enough.”

Last month, five members of congress also asked the Department of Justice to get involved by conducting a pattern-of-practice investigation.

So far, the DOJ has not responded.