QUAKERTOWN, Penn. – On Friday afternoon, approximately 35 students from Quakertown Senior High School participated in a planned, peaceful walkout to protest the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Pennsylvania and across the country.
During the demonstration, Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree arrived at the protest in plainclothes with a number of officers. Video footage shows McElree and his officers unnecessarily and aggressively escalating the tension with the students. A physical confrontation ensued that left McElree grappling on the ground with a student. Five students and one adult were arrested following the scuffle with officers.
The following statement can be attributed to Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania:
“On Friday, students in Quakertown made the decision to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights and organize a public demonstration to protest continued and escalating abuses by ICE. By all accounts, including abundant video evidence, there were no issues at the demonstration until Quakertown police arrived and incited violence.
“A police officer’s job is to serve and protect their community; this includes protecting people’s rights. The actions of Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree on Friday afternoon are a stark violation of that commitment. The police should have been there to facilitate the demonstration, ensuring that the students could safely exercise their rights to assemble and speak out freely as guaranteed by our Constitution. They failed.
“In abandoning his job and his mission on Friday afternoon, Chief McElree effectively was acting as a counter-protester, albeit one with the ability to arrest people. Quakertown deserves better.
“The ACLU of Pennsylvania is in touch with the student demonstrators. We’re calling for a full and transparent investigation of this incident and for the police and Chief McElree to be held accountable for their actions if the evidence confirms the apparent excessive force, retaliation and false arrest.”
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