Girl put in chokehold during ICE protest involving students
A student-led walkout protesting ICE escalated into a confrontation with police in Quakertown, resulting in multiple arrests, including several students and one adult.
The walkout began as an anti-ICE protest, with students walking through town while police monitored the situation. It remains unclear how the fight started, but by the end of the incident, five to six students and one adult were under arrest.
About 35 students from Quakertown High School walked out around 11:30 a.m., despite warnings from school officials not to hold the event.
Video from the scene has raised questions about what occurred.
#protest #ice #immigration #pennsylvania https://6abc.com/post/student-walkout-quakertown-pa-ends-arrests-confrontation-police/18626651/
Controversy tonight involving a chaotic scene that unfolded in Bucks County.
At least five high school students were arrested.
It all started with students walking out of Quakertown High School to protest against ICE,
but escalated into a confrontation with police.
Action reporter Elizabeth Worthington is in Quakertown with the full story.
In a moment you'll see video of some of the chaos unfolding.
You'll see a man in a brown sweatshirt.
He's been identified by sources as the Quakertown Borough Police Chief.
If he's not wearing a police uniform, we're told that's not necessarily out of the ordinary
for him, but it is adding to the controversy surrounding this incident.
Now, at this point, it remains unclear who initiated the violence.
Video captured by a witness inside a Quakertown restaurant shows a man identified by sources
as the borough's police chief, Scott McElry, struggling on the ground, surrounded by students,
some of them swinging at him.
He eventually gets up and puts a girl in a chokehold before he's attacked by students
and brought to the ground again.
The witness spoke to Action News but asked not to be identified.
There were other grown men who were bystanders who were getting involved in the situation
as well.
They were getting in these children's spaces and one ended up in handcuffs.
Quakertown police say that adult male and at least five juveniles were arrested after
the incident.
It all started with a student-led protest against ICE, a protest the Quakertown High
School principal had canceled early Friday morning due to potential safety concerns.
The school says about 35 students proceeded to leave school grounds without permission
and marched into town.
Police say some students began engaging in, quote, disruptive behavior, including kicking
cars and damaging property.
It's unclear when or why the situation turned into a violent confrontation between police
and students.
These grown men were double their size, the bystanders and the police, and it was just
jarring to watch children being thrown onto the floor, restrained.
There was blood.
I was embarrassed for our community.
Holly Magalengo has children who attend Quakertown High School.
She was disturbed by the video, now going viral on social media, but said it's unfair
for local law enforcement to have to deal with this.
Peaceful protests are something that we have the right to do, but when it's violent and
it's disruptive or there's vandalism involved, then I think it changes everything.
Again, at least five teens were arrested.
No word yet on whether any of them are facing any charges.
The same goes for that adult male who was arrested, and the extent of his involvement
and why he was there remains unclear.
In Quakertown, Elizabeth Worthington, Channel 6 Action News.