Nineteen-year-old Rodney A. Tanzymore was arrested Monday morning at his Queens home and charged with causing a false public alarm.
State police stopped the van based on a 911 call that passengers had been brandishing handguns outside a convenience store at a New Jersey Turnpike rest stop.
Eleven Queens teenagers, including Tanzymore, were returning from a visit to Howard University.
The students and chaperones from the group Safe Space NYC say officers approached the vehicle with weapons drawn and handcuffed all the occupants.
State police say they used proper protocol.
