One teen protester detained over scuffle with Pennsylvania police chief enters probation program
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The first of five high school protesters detained in Pennsylvania for days after an altercation with an elderly man who appeared to be local. police chief He entered a probationary program designed to rid himself of his criminal record.
Three other Quakertown teenagers had their juvenile court hearings postponed Friday in suburban Bucks County; The fifth’s lawyer requested that the assault charges be dropped completely.
“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful the way these kids were persecuted for protesting and speaking their mind,” attorney Ettore “Ed” Angelo said before the Friday afternoon hearing of his client, a 15-year-old girl.
The teenagers, most of them black children, were detained for four to eight days after the Feb. 20 attack and kept under house arrest with ankle monitors for a month. Videotaped police response to anti-ICE protests hot town meetings The 72-year-old police chief in predominantly white Quakertown, who also serves as town manager, has been placed on medical leave.
Angelo’s 250-pound client is charged with aggravated assault after stocky police Chief Scott McElree put his arm around another teenage girl’s neck and struck her in the shoulder as she fell to the ground with him. McElree is under investigation by the district attorney but remains the named victim in the juvenile cases. Angelo wants more time to investigate possible settlement offers before considering them.
“These kids are being taught that we have two systems of justice. There’s one system for those who have power and wealth, and there’s another system for those who don’t have both,” he said.
Quakertown Community High School students had planned a school-sanctioned strike against U.S. immigration enforcement policies. others It was held nationwide this year before the school canceled plans for the day due to safety concerns. Instead, about 35 students began a one-mile loop through the town. Defense lawyers said that other students with opposing views who harassed them also followed in cars.
According to video posted on social media, about 10 people had gathered outside a bakery when McElree entered the fray in street clothes. When he put his arm around the girl’s neck, several students fought with him. He is one of the young people whose cases were postponed on Friday.
All were charged with both aggravated assault because of McElree’s position and lesser charges. Some residents have called for him to resign, both at emotional town meetings and in petitions circulating online.
McElree did not return messages left at his home and office last month, and his attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday. A spokesman for District Attorney Joe Khan said only that the investigation into the police response is ongoing.
The high school student, whose name was not released, was placed on probation on Friday and will have the arrest revoked if he completes six months of probation. His lawyer, Donald Souders, said he was the child of American immigrants who hoped to serve in the military. His glasses were broken in the conflict and he was detained for four days while trying to clean the glass particles from his eyes.
Souders said the incident reflected sharp disagreement in American society. And instead of police de-escalating the situation, “things were allowed to escalate further,” he said.
“These kids had the courage and the heart to go out and protest,” Souders said Friday. he said. “The police chief was apparently there monitoring the protests along the route. He did nothing to stop the anti-protesters who were harassing them, using racial slurs, veiled threats against children. He did nothing.”
Quakertown is about 40 miles north of Philadelphia.
