The video I saw didn't upset me. Thu student had been disruptive, that's why the police had been called. He continued to be disruptive and refused to follow police orders, so they used force sufficient to get him to comply. All my kids attended M-A and it's a vibrant, diverse public school. Teachers and administrators need to be able to keep reasonable order, and students are blowing this out of proportion.

What was completely unacceptable was a student assaulting a staff member. Everything that occurred after that was due to the student's own behavior. I know the students may not understand taking responsibility for one's actions, but that's what this boils down to. If the student hadn't assaulted a staff member and then hadn't refused to comply with reasonable orders from the police officers that responded to the REPORT OF A CRIME, there would have been no problem. The police wouldn't have been called and all this wailing and gnashing of teeth by the students wouldn't be happening.

I guess if there are records of the APD responding to police calls about a white person/student who was alleged to have committed a violent act, and walked away from the police, but the police de-escalated the situation and "let it go", the protestors would have a point.

But I don't see this being alleged.

As noted by others, aledgedly, the student behaved in an aggressive manner in dealing with a school administrator. Next, even if the police should not been called, once the police did arrive, the student could have simply complied with the police instructions (i.e., a responsible behavior) and no physical force would have been required, especially if the student had a recent surgery he should not have risked harm to himself by resisting arrest. Focusing only on the video of the forceful arrest is the final event in a longer scenario.

Note in the video that the police attempted to detain two students. Both were POC. One student complied with the detention order, was handcuffed while standing and then elected to sit down. After he was questioned he was released.

The second student resisted arrest and attempted to flee. He fell to the ground while pulling away from a police officer. The police officer then followed standard procedure and rolled the now prone student onto his stomach and handcuffed him. That student continued to resist and had to be carried to the police car.

The police behavior was entirely correct and, as was demonstrated by their actions with the first student, there was not a racial component.

The students, staff, and teachers who spoke at the meeting were articulate, made no excuses for the student (or anyone else), and offered multiple solutions for managing similar situations in the future. The students' maturity is impressive.

I expect that this thread -- like the other one -- will be swarmed by people who seem to be out of touch with the majority of high school students, and cannot seem to understand the dynamics of this complex issue. Notwithstanding the fingerwagging from these community members, the board is moving in the right direction by listening to the stakeholders.

Much as some of you might like to see the students chastised and put in their place, end of story, your perspectives will not prevail. It's encouraging to see so many people taking action on a challenging situation that matters to most of us.

When violence is tolerated then more violence will occur.

Here is what happened after the walkout:

Web Link

OMG! Charges of racism again. Please, everyone, watch the videos of the arrest. To this laywoman’s eyes, the police behaved entirely properly. No violence on their part.

I’m glad that this this young man apparently is not facing any charges. But the authorities had an obligation to the public to detain and investigate him to determine whether he was a further threat. After all, he was violent toward an administrator and threatened his life.

I agree with the protesters on one thing: de-escalation training for everyone, including for this young man so he can learn to de-escalate his temper. I sincerely hope things go well for him the rest of his life. I don’t know if the protesters are him doing any favors by trying to make this incident a cause-celebre.

I wish the Almanac good luck in getting the police report.

After watching the student video and local media, I'm left with two questions: Were the school counselors/administrators who authorized or summoned the police at the scene after the police arrived and intervened? Were the school personnel simply flipping responsibility to law enforcement? Were the students acting so dangerously at the time of the incident as to require that all responsibility needed to be handed over to police, who at that point needed to act quickly on relatively little information? Where were school officials trained in deescalation when needed to interpret and deescalate after the police were called? Its likely that students of color might respond differently, more fearfully, to police orders than if the students involved had been kids of privilege who are used to having authority figures treat them with deference, and if so not treated, have family members ready to respond on their behalf. If I were the student in the video, I would be more fearful knowing there was no protection between me and the armed officers. Discipline might indeed have been appropriate for the student who was ultimately detained. But can school officials and/or the police honestly respond that they would have handled this situation the same if they were confronted with a more privileged student whose parents could have been summoned and relied upon for support? More importantly, did the student THINK the police would respond in the same way to himself as to another student?

Menlo Mike:

There was another POC standing right next to the student that the police detained. He complied, no violence occurred. So why would the student think he was in imminent danger?

I second MenloMike's comments. It's unfortunate to see so many tonedeaf comments on this thread from people who have no clue what it's like to be a POC in this society. He did not know, a priori, that he would not be shot or killed -- he, like most of us, had undoubtedly seen the videos in which young POC men are murdered by police.

Most of you, it's pretty clear, did not listen at all to the meeting. Give it a try, starting around minute 23 when the school administrators, teachers, and students start to comment.

It is possible, even likely, that both the student and the vice-principal were in the wrong. That seems to be a hard fact for some of you to accept. Too bad, as this story will have been wasted on you, other than giving you yet another chance to vent about badly-behaved POC.

“It is possible, even likely, that both the student and the vice-principal were in the wrong. That seems to be a hard fact for some of you to accept.“

I can believe it. But if the student got physical with the vice-principal, pushed him against a wall, and spit on him, that trumped whatever subjectively “incorrect” decision making the vp engaged in with respect to the squirt gun.

I’ve never heard any actual denials by the supporters of the student that he did this.

Just put yourself in the shoes of a police dispatcher when you get a 911 call about a violent attack at M-A.

It could have been this:
Web Link

Until the accused individual is detained and questioned you cannot know what is the real threat. The dispatcher cannot tell the caller to "just walk away" and not dispatch all available resources to ensure that any potential threat is contained.

The police should not have been called. That's the point. The school has ample resources to handle these kinds of situations, but a vice-principal who felt disrespected allowed the situation to get out of control. Instead of modeling what to do when you feel angry -- which could have been a valuable lesson for the student -- he put the student in fear of his life.

How about watching a few minutes of the video before you comment again, Peter?

"How about watching a few minutes of the video before you comment again, Peter?"

Which video? I have watched both of the videos posted on the Town Forum at least ten times.

This is what the student petition claimed:


"Menlo Atherton High School students and the Black Student Union are organizing a protest around the police brutality incident that occurred on and off campus on Friday, April 28th. Two Black students were handcuffed and harassed by police at the bus station following an altercation in the office. We do not condone violence in any way, and as advocates of restorative justice practices we do not believe there is any justification for the mistreatment students were subjected to at the bus stop. There is a video circulating of the incident where the students can be seen being attacked by police officers at the bus stop. One student was handcuffed and pinned to the ground while he called out for help and expressed pain from a recent injury. "

The claims in the petition are not supported by the video evidence.

There was no harassment, there was no brutality, there was no attack by the police and there was no mistreatment.

"The police should not have been called"

The mission of M-A is not to be an arena for violence.

When violence is tolerated then more violence will occur.

Here is what happened after the walkout:

Web Link

When do we say that school violence is simply unacceptable?

Frozen:

I don't give a damn about the race of the student. I would have made exactly the same comments if he had been white as I did for this student. What he did, POC or not, was totally out of line.

Frozen is clearly the one who’s out of touch and again is lying about what transpired by stating the employee felt disrespected. The employee was threatened, not just disrespected. The employee was a victim of a hate crime, not just disrespected. And Frozen doesn’t know how the employee felt, unless the employee told Frozen.

JT Faraji only knows how to exaggerate and blow smoke. He isn’t a trustworthy source of info.

I’m around local teens every day, most aren’t white, and I know what their lives are like. I’ve also seen Atherton PD mistreat white people, including white teens. On one memorable occasion I had to intervene because the officer’s behavior toward the crime victim was so terrible.

I hope people stop coddling this hothead teen so he’s held accountable for his behavior and can make the necessary changes in his life so he doesn’t mistreat and threaten anyone else in the future, including other minorities like the school employee. Next time he might run into street justice or actual police brutality.

"Menlo Atherton High School students and the Black Student Union are organizing a protest around the police brutality incident that occurred on and off campus on Friday, April 28th. Two Black students were handcuffed and harassed by police at the bus station following an altercation in the office. We do not condone violence in any way, and as advocates of restorative justice practices we do not believe there is any justification for the mistreatment students were subjected to at the bus stop. There is a video circulating of the incident where the students can be seen being attacked by police officers at the bus stop. One student was handcuffed and pinned to the ground while he called out for help and expressed pain from a recent injury. "

The claims in the petition are not supported by the video evidence.

There was no harassment, there was no brutality, there was no attack by the police and there was no mistreatment.

Feel free to author a petition when you have a winning hand but don't do so when you have only three duces - if that.

Those of us who support M-A with our tax dollars have no interest in supporting a violence tolerant institution.

We expect M-A to be a value driven institution that teaches respect, discipline and non-violence.

Do not expect us to fund a lawless institution.