The Carl Sandburg Auditorium was the scene of an emotionally-charged panel discussion Tuesday night as police, students and business representatives debated violence and its relationship to the black community.

The discussion centered around the Sept. 12 fight that broke out at Husky’s Grill and Sports Bar and involved a crowd of hundreds. Police arrested three people in the incident.

Police officers from at least three agencies responded with shotguns drawn, and used mace to subdue the crowd.

DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen defended the police response as standard procedure, saying that shotguns and mace were for the safety of officers and bystanders.

When officers get a report of a fight, they do not know what to expect, Feithen said, and may have to deal with weapons.

Several officers and crowd members were accidentally maced due to the nature of the spray deterrent, Feithen said.

Feithen estimated that about 30-35 officers responded to the scene after other officers and witnesses reported shots fired near the crowd.

Christopher Mitchell, a bouncer who said he was jumped by several attackers during the fight, said justice had not been served.

Mitchell signaled to a friend in the audience, Martez Harding, and thanked him for helping him out of the fight.

He then pointed out that Harding was one of the three people arrested for obstructing a peace officer and resisting a peace officer during the melee.

“You can have 40 officers out there, but if they don’t know what they’re doing, what’s the purpose?” Mitchell asked. “The 12 guys who jumped me, where are they at?”

Other students spoke up about alleged bias toward black students by police.

“The way they speak to the students . . . they’re treating them as if they’re there to do something bad,” said Shoshonah Berry, a senior elementary education major.

Feithen said police respond equally to all reports – regardless of the race of people involved.

More open dialogue is needed between students and DeKalb police to talk about issues, DuJuan Smith, president of the Black Student Union, said.

Hemphill said more social outlets besides the bar need to be explored for African American students.

“We will leave here . . . and look at this very seriously,” Hemphill said.

More effective guidelines and preparations would need to be put in place for large-scale events, Feithen said.

The NAACP will hold a follow-up meeting at 8 p.m. Sept. 27 in the Stevenson Multi-Purpose Room, Jones said.

The event was sponsored by the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority and the Iota Phi Theta fraternity. The panel was moderated by Timothy Jones, NIU’s NAACP chapter president, and included NIU students, Feithen, Hemphill, Smith, Otto’s owner Tony Poulos, and Mitchell.