2 teens remain in custody after Quakertown ICE protest turned into brawl with police chief, attorney says
Two of the five teenagers detained in Quakertown remain in custody Thursday after an anti-ICE protest turned into a brawl with the police chief, according to an attorney for one of the teens.
The protest last week started peacefully and then turned violent. Five teens were arrested and spent at least four nights in custody. Three of them were released by a judge on Tuesday.
Many are calling for the police chief to resign, and the Quakertown school board has rearranged its agenda for the Thursday school board meeting to allow for the expected high volume of public comment.
Last Friday, police said roughly 50 students walked out of Quakertown Community High School as part of an anti-ICE protest. After walking a couple of blocks, police said some of the kids started throwing snowballs and kicking cars.
Many students told CBS News Philadelphia they were reacting to counter-protesters who were following them in trucks shouting and harassing them. Teens who were there said things took a turn when a man showed up in a brown jacket and started pushing them around. At the time, they said, they had no idea it was Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree.
Five kids were arrested and an attorney for one of them said they've been charged with felony aggravated assault, an enhanced charge because a police officer was involved.
"Something that was started by a man with 50 years of law enforcement experience who comes in and blows up this situation and makes it a violent situation," said attorney Ettore Angelo said, who is representing a 15-year-old girl who was released from custody on Tuesday.
Angelo said, according to the probable cause statement, his client was arrested for hitting the chief on the shoulder.
"She's a frail, tiny little thing, no way in hell she's going to hurt this police chief who she thought was just some stranger," Angelo said.
Angelo and at least one other attorney representing a different teen are calling on the Pennsylvania attorney general to investigate this incident and demanding the AG and the Bucks County district attorney dismiss the charges against the students.
The AG's office told CBS News Philadelphia it would be inappropriate to comment.
A Bucks County DA spokesperson said: "The Bucks County District Attorney's Office is required to protect the integrity of the juvenile justice process and the confidentiality mandated by law. As such, we cannot comment on the specifics of individual cases."
McElree is listed as the Quakertown borough manager as well as the police chief. Neither the borough nor the Quakertown police department are commenting at this time.