PHILADELPHIA – Legal representatives for a group of student demonstrators held in custody in Pennsylvania for four days following a clash with law enforcement, assert that their clients were unaware that the hefty, older man in plain clothes who intervened and restrained a 15-year-old girl was, in fact, the local police chief.
The lawyers explained that the students from Quakertown Community High School, who were protesting against immigration enforcement measures, believed they were acting in self-defense. They plan to contest the charges, which include a simple assault elevated to aggravated assault—a felony—due to the victim being Police Chief Scott McElree.
“He rushed from his vehicle into the midst of these young protesters,” defense attorney Donald Souders stated on Wednesday. “Many of the students stepped in to protect her, assuming he was a counter-protester.”
According to the attorneys, the 72-year-old McElree arrived in an unmarked vehicle, lacking any visible badge, hat, or uniform, and did not identify himself. Videos circulating on social media capture the skirmish between the students and the police officers.
McElree, who also holds the position of borough manager for the Philadelphia suburb, did not respond to messages left at his home and office on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The chief directly choked my client, and it was falsely claimed she had hit him, which she did not,” stated Timothy Prendergast, representing the 15-year-old girl. “They are innocent and were simply exercising their First Amendment rights. The chief overstepped his bounds.”
Prendergast’s client and at least two others were released Tuesday, some on home confinement with ankle monitors. It was not immediately clear if the other two remained in custody Wednesday. The lawyers did not identify their clients, and juvenile court records are not public.
Some residents have called for McElree to resign. Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan opened an investigation, while also prosecuting the teens in juvenile court. The defense lawyers questioned whether he could remain impartial in both roles.
About 35 students had staged a walkout Friday to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies when police approached them outside a bakery, about a half-mile from school.
Souders represents a 16-year-old boy who, he said, had his eyeglasses broken as he was knocked into a large planter by a uniformed officer during the scrum. The boy spent the weekend in custody trying to get glass particles out of his eye, and was seen there by a nurse before his father took him to a hospital Tuesday after his release, Souders said.
High school administrators had met with the student protesters about the planned walkout, but then withdrew permission on Friday morning out of safety concerns, the acting superintendent said in a statement.
Many in the group are students of color, and some are the children of immigrants, their lawyers said. Both Quakertown, with about 9,300 residents, and the high school, with about 1,650 students, are predominantly white.
According to defense lawyers, the students were taunted along the route by another group of students yelling insults, including racial epithets, at them.
“Throughout the protest, the police were following from a distance,” Souders said. “Probably in hindsight, they should have interceded between the protesters and counterprotesters. They were saying really awful things to get the kids riled up.”
His client, a high school junior who works two restaurant jobs, was released on home confinement with an ankle monitor, he said. He can leave home for school, work, church and other approved activities.
As juveniles, the teens have a right to an adjudication hearing within 30 days — or 10 days if they are in custody. However, the lawyers expect to seek more time to gather video and other evidence in the case.
“This was an abomination of (police) escalation when it should have been a teaching moment for de-escalation,” said lawyer Ettore “Ed” Angelo, who represents another 15-year-old girl charged and released in the case.
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