Local officials in Pennsylvania are investigating the police response to an anti-ICE protest on Friday where students and officers got into multiple physical confrontations.
“Our office is conducting an independent investigation into the police response during this incident,” the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said of the protest in Quakertown in a statement on Facebook on Saturday.
The office said it was committed to a “thorough and transparent review” and called on members of the public to submit any footage of the tense encounter, which resulted in upwards of six arrests.
About 35 students walked out of Quakertown Senior High School on Friday to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, defying a decision from school officials to shutter a planned demonstration over what administrators said was a “threat of violence” against the event.
Accounts differ of what led to the confrontations between students and police.
A widely circulated video of the clashes shows a man in plainclothes putting a girl in a chokehold.
Eyewitnesses and the local Bucks County Courier Times newspaper identified the man as Quakertown Borough Police Chief Scott McElree.
The Independent has requested comment from the police department and McElree.
One demonstrator who witnessed the encounter told the newspaper that the students were unaware McElree was an officer.
“Everyone started to beat on him because he was grabbing at random kids,” the student said.
A bystander who saw the confrontation said the situation escalated further when a male student tried to help the female student, prompting officers to force the male student to the ground.
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“The situation completely escalated,” she told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “There were multiple grown men getting in the faces of the children, spit flying out of their mouths.”
Another witness told 6ABC that other adults appeared to get involved in the fighting as the scene devolved into chaos.
“There were other grown men who were bystanders who were getting involved in the situation as well,” the witness said. “They were getting in children’s faces, and one ended up in handcuffs.”
Police told the Inquirer that “five to six juveniles and one adult have been taken into custody.”
Officers said students engaged in dangerous behavior including entering traffic, throwing snow balls, kicking cars, damaging property, and assaulting officers.
Community members demanded accountability after the clashes.
“When young people are involved in an encounter with law enforcement, the standard for care, restraint and adherence to policy are high and must be adhered to,” Bucks County NAACP President Adrienne King said at a news conference on Saturday outside the police department.
“This is not controversial. It is expected,” she said. “Video circulating publicly has raised serious questions in our community. Those questions deserve answers, and we are here to ask for those answers today.”
A woman at the conference who gave her name as Allison said her stepdaughter was among those who were arrested.
“Our daughter was wrongfully accused,” she said. “She was deliberately sought after and she was assaulted. She was thrown into the ground and she was a choked. We want her home safe. We want respect for our daughter and for the other students like her who were there.”
As of Sunday evening, more than 5,000 people had signed a change.org petition demanding McElree’s resignation.
It is unclear whether anyone who was arrested during the protest remains in detention.
Arrested students were taken to Bucks County Youth Center, which declined to comment when contacted by The Independent.
The center directed questions to Bucks County Juvenile Court, which is closed on Sundays.
Bucks County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Manuel Gamiz Jr. told the Inquirer that the major storm expected to hit the East Coast on Sunday night prompted the closure of the Bucks County Justice Center, which could delay legal actions regarding the arrested students.
“Once students left school grounds without authorization and walked into town, deviating from the planned walkout route, they were no longer under the district’s custodial control or supervision, and we have almost no legal ability to regulate or investigate their behavior,” Dr. Lisa Hoffman, acting superintendent of Quakertown Community School District, wrote in a statement on Sunday.
“Administrators were not on the scene in the borough and were not in any way involved in student arrests,” she said.
Students aren’t the only ones criticizing ICE in the area.
In January, the county sheriff’s office ended a collaboration agreement it had with the immigration agency, citing community concerns.
“When large numbers of our residents are afraid to call 911, or come to court and testify, that makes our entire community less safe,” recently elected Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler said of the decision at the time. “This is not a public safety problem for immigrants. This is a public safety problem for everyone.”
This week, Bucks County commissioners voted unanimously to bar ICE from setting up processing and detention centers at warehouses within county limits.
Bucks County, about an hour’s drive north of Philadelphia, narrowly voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
