Dozens of students came out to protest at Menlo-Atherton High School Wednesday. They said that police crossed the line when arresting a student off campus last Friday and added that the video proves it.
“No one should be treated differently. Everyone should be treated the same. Whether it's being questioned first before being pinned on the ground,” said student Itzel Garcia.
Cellphone video showed police arresting a Black Menlo-Atherton High School student Friday. But that seems to be the only thing the school and the students agree on.
Students said there was no reason to force the teen face down on the ground, especially since they said he recently had stomach surgery.
Nora Acosta with the Black Student Union was one of the protest organizers.
“I feel like, in my opinion they were doing too much. Either way, they shouldn't have threw him on the ground like that because he just had surgery and that did really hurt him really bad,” she said.
Rumors have swirled that the entire confrontation was over a water gun police were attempting to take away. But police and school administrators say that is not what happened.
In a statement, Atherton police said the student had a water gun taken away from him earlier in the week and was in the school office, demanding the water gun be returned. They added that's when the boy physically assaulted a school administrator, pushing him into a cubicle wall, spitting on him and calling him homophobic slurs.
They added when they confronted the student off campus, he refused to comply with officers orders and started walking away and that's when an officer grabbed the boys shirt.
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“The student continued to pull away from the officer’s hold on his shirt and fell to the ground. Once on the ground, officers rolled the student onto his stomach and placed him into handcuffs. Officers used the least amount of force to detain the student," Atherton police said in a statement.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office is now reviewing the case and will have to determine whether to file charges. Police said those charges could include threatening a school official, battery on a school official, assault and a possible hate crime enhancement.
The school principal also issued a statement, confirming administrators called for police “due to an interaction with a student that escalated to the level that our site team felt concern for their safety.”
Police said the incident is being reviewed to ensure the officers actions were lawful and in compliance with department policy.
