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On the afternoon of May 3, over 100 Menlo-Atherton High School students, teachers and community members gathered to protest the Atherton Police Department and school administration’s handling of an incident Friday, April 28, when police handcuffed two students and pinned one to the ground at a bus stop just outside the Atherton campus.
Despite heavy rain, the protesters walked for over an hour. They started on Oak Grove Avenue, Marcussen Drive and Middlefield Road, stopping at the bus stop where police kneeled on the student’s back. In videos of the incident, he and his friends can be heard pleading for the officers to get off of the student because he was in pain from a recent surgery.
The protesters continued back down Oak Grove Avenue, blocking traffic on El Camino Real all the way to the Safeway on Middle Avenue in Menlo Park, chanting slogans like “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “This is what democracy looks like.”
Community member Maurice Goodman, who serves as vice mayor on the Millbrae City Council, said, “I watched the video last week and I saw myself, I saw my sons in those young men’s eyes. I just knew someone had to do something. I’m glad students did something when parents and adults were quiet. I’m glad the students are holding adults accountable to do something.”
Eboni Freeman, a freshman and social media manager for M-A’s Black Student Union (BSU), was involved in planning the event.
“I’m very proud of the student body and all the members of the community who showed up,” Freeman said. “I feel like we accomplished something today.”
Teacher Anne Olson said that there were a few people on the streets who asked about what was happening and what the protest was in response to. “That was an opportunity to educate the community about something that they hadn’t heard about yet,” Olson said. “I think that protesting is also important because it reminds us that we have the collective power to enact change. In situations like what happened on Friday where power was taken away from a human being, it’s really important to reclaim that power.”
Students then assembled in the PAC Cafe on campus to listen to speeches by students, members of the BSU, and J.T. Faraji, an organizer from the protest group Tha Hood Squad.
Faraji, who said he was speaking on behalf of the arrested student’s family, said, “They want to make sure that this is an awareness opportunity. They also want you to know that there are two sides to every story, so they want to make sure that students are respectful to authority and to the administration.”
On Wednesday, the Atherton Police Department released a statement which said, “The student … physically assaulted a school administrator by pushing them into a cubicle wall, tried to push the administrator’s glasses off their face, spit on them, and called them derogatory homophobic slurs.”
In his speech, Faraji said, “The family of the student wants to make sure that you know that the statement that the police came out with today is categorically false.”
Atherton police told The Almanac that the encounter is under administrative review. The student’s family is being represented by Oakland-based civil rights attorney John Burris. Burris told The Almanac that his office is investigating the student’s treatment by police and he will be making a recommendation about whether to file a lawsuit soon.
Freeman, who also gave a speech, said, “Yes, it was a harmful situation, and that is what admin said, but you haven’t mentioned how it was traumatic, you haven’t mentioned how there was a little boy being pinned to the ground, begging for someone to come help him, and no one did. They didn’t even acknowledge that there was M-A staff watching the whole time, not a thing was done, no one helped him. It felt like he was alone, and I felt like I was alone — because what if that was me?”
In an email sent to students on Sunday, April 30, M-A Principal Karl Losekoot said that site administrators called for police department support “due to an interaction with a student that escalated to the level that our site team felt concerned for their safety, as there was physical contact made against one of our site leaders along with several verbal threats made towards that staff member.”
BSU advisor Chloe Gentile-Montgomery told protestors, “What happened on Friday could have been avoided had more people on campus been trained in de-escalation practices, had more people on campus had stronger relationships with students, had more students on campus felt safe going into the office and didn’t feel like they needed to enter on the defense.”
M-A’s BSU organized the protest and also a petition to “End Police Brutality in Sequoia Union High School District.” Among the demands are de-escalation training for all Menlo-Atherton staff, contacting parents before calling the police and a school-wide assembly on the event. The group is also asking that an additional counselor be hired to help with de-escalation, plus training for student conflict mediators, clearer policies regarding the employment of M-A’s School Resource Officer (SRO), and increased hiring of Black staff. Many students also went to the PAC Cafe on May 1, to plan the protests and make posters to raise awareness about the arrest.
Freeman said that the BSU has met with the high school’s administration to discuss the incident, but added, “I want to talk when things aren’t so high emotion, because I know that the answers aren’t gonna satisfy me right now because I’m so angry. Next week, I do want to sit down and have an actual conversation. We can’t change this now, all we can do is prevent this from happening to any other students.”
Sophomore Melanie Osuna, who was at the bus stop on Friday, said, “I think it’s important to show our dedication and we’re not going to stop until we get what we need. It just shows that we’re strong as a community and we all have each other’s backs. And we can go through this and have a better future for future students coming to the school so that they can feel safer.”
Many protestors interviewed were dissatisfied with administrators’ response to the situation, both in calling the police and in statements released on Monday and Tuesday. Freeman said, “There was a lack of transparency and I was left with more questions than answers. It felt like they didn’t care and like they were siding with the police. I was mad and I felt lied to by M-A because you hear about all these things about how they’re aware of how Black people are treated in society, but then when a situation like this happens in real life, they are nowhere to be found.”
Sophomore Joey Stout said, “What we really need to be doing is standing our ground and telling the school that we are not okay with what they’re doing. And that’s what a protest is, a protest is a way to amplify our voices.”
Cleo Rehkopf is a student journalist at Menlo-Atherton High School. This story was originally published in the M-A Chronicle. Angela Swartz contributed to this report.
Cleo Rehkopf is a student journalist at Menlo-Atherton High School. This story was originally published in the M-A Chronicle. Angela Swartz contributed to this report.
Cleo Rehkopf is a student journalist at Menlo-Atherton High School. This story was originally published in the M-A Chronicle. Angela Swartz contributed to this report.
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Regarding the police action at M A high school, it’s important to recognize that no forceful arrest would have been necessary if the student had simply complied with the police commands as opposed to resisting arrest and claiming something like, “You can’t touch me; I’m a minor.” Perhaps, the incident could have been avoided if the student had not (allegedly) pushed and spitted upon a school staff member.
If the student had been that physically aggressive, it is the student who would benefit from anger management, conflict resolution, and de-escalation.
And you wonder why no one want to be a cop.
Coddling students who commit acts of violence, hate speech and issue threats is a bad idea. There is a lack of acknowledgement in the evolving narrative that acting immediately on threats is a responsibility of school staff. Sure, it’s great to contact the parents first if time allows, but when a threat is involved, dealing with it is the priority. It would be helpful to know what is required of staff when they are threatened or learn about threats.
“Coddling students who commit acts of violence, hate speech and issue threats is a bad idea. ”
Yep. And yet our state legislature is considering just that. Making it more difficult to discipline students with behavior problems.
Menlo Voter, maybe those who signed the petition will be willing to move the two students into their homes and out of East Palo Alto. My city has enough challenges without them.
As a past M-A student, I can honestly say that the police officers need to get involved. These kids are getting bolder and are becoming more violent. The parents aren’t there so they think their kids are angels or can’t be as bad as they are being told … but they are!
We can’t let these kids think they can’t get treated like adults when they do adult things. How are they supposed to learn if we are protecting them from consequences of their behavior?!?!?!
If you resist arrest, you are going to end up getting hurt because they are trying to secure the subject so no one else gets hurt. It’s really that easy! The student already assaulted someone, who’s to say they won’t again. I’m not sure where people’s logic are nowadays. The color should not matter but this incident has to do with a student and their family crying that they were mistreated when the student caused ALL of this because of their physical actions. Where did they learn to use their hands and say horrible things in the first place? If they are not getting disciplined or taught how to be respectful and not use violence at home, what is the school supposed to do? Just take the abuse. That’s NOT on them and they have every right to call in the police and let them handle it when a student gets violent. Maybe students will learn this way!
I am teaching my kids the way I was taught … RESPECT! Just because you’re mad doesn’t mean you can do whatever the hell you want. And I’m not gonna stick up for my kid just because he’s my kid … no one is perfect and teens think they are untouchable. And I know some students whose parents act like they can get away with anything. Stupid actions = consequences. Maybe they’ll think twice before doing something stupid next time.
“In his speech, Faraji said, “The family of the student wants to make sure that you know that the statement that the police came out with today is categorically false.”
Does anyone know what actually happened here? It seems like there is a big gap between the statements from the protesters and the police/school admins.
There are two videos that document almost the entire police portion of this event:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CroUTR7MZ1V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
tinyurl.com/ma-arrest
In my review of these two videos I see:
– one student who complies with a detention order, is cuffed, interviewed and then released,
– a second student who resists the detention order, tries to flee, falls down while a police officer has a hold on his shirt, is rolled on to his stomach, cuffed and continues to resist
– no harassment by the police
– no brutality by the police
– no attack by the police
– no mistreatment by the police
– no attempt by the police to impede the video taping (the close up shots were clearly the videographer getting shots on police officers’ name plates and badge numbers not the police themselves blocking the camera.
I have been told that there is a third video but Parent refuses to post a link to it.
Please watch these videos and post your own interpretations.
Jerry:
look at the videos at the links that Peter posted and I think you will see that what the family has said is total BS. And their position on this actually explains their child’s poor behavior. Clearly he hasn’t had to face consequences for misbehaving.
Most, if not all, of the officers are wearing body cameras so there will be a great deal more video documentation of this event when that footage is released.
Thanks for posting the videos. My question was more about the incident with the teacher that led up to this.
I agree with @Past M-A Student.
I’ve tried to teach my kids that it’s okay to disagree and argue, even passionately. But to keep arguments “above-board” and try to listen to the other person’s point of view. I told them they won’t win every argument this way but they will always have their honor and the respect of others.
It all comes down to one things did the student push or not obey a teacher or other school officials request? Did he obey the police officer’s request? If he pushed a school employee then the reaction is not overblown it is assault! If he didn’t comply with the police officer then the reaction was appropriate. Teachers and school personnel have to be protected too. So if this student did nothing then what happened is unwarranted. The police video is not as important as what evidence the school has to support the school’s action to call the police. Easy to get upset to see a student being physically handled by the police but let’s not give the student a pass until we have ALL the facts.