‘She doesn’t believe she’s guilty of anything.’ Quakertown teen will head to trial after arrest in ICE protest, attorney says
The 15-year-old girl faces misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, and a summary violation for obstructing traffic after the February melee.
A Bucks County judge on Tuesday denied a request to dismiss the case against a 15-year-old girl charged during an anti-ICE protest in Quakertown, setting the case on course for a possible trial in June, according to her attorney.
The girl is the only one of five teenagers arrested after the February protest — which ended in a chaotic confrontation involving several teens and Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree — whose case remains unresolved.
The other four teenagers have reached agreements with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, according to three people familiar with the cases who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Prosecutors have already withdrawn the most serious charge against the girl, aggravated assault, which had stemmed from allegations that she struck McElree, 72, on the shoulder during the confrontation.
Her attorney, Ed Angelo, said the teen denies hitting the chief. The remaining charges against her are misdemeanors — resisting arrest and disorderly conduct — and a summary violation for obstructing traffic, he said. She declined an offer by prosecutors to resolve the case, he said.
“She is an intelligent, strong-willed child who believes what she believes profoundly,” Angelo said of his client. “And in this case, she doesn’t believe she’s guilty of anything.”
Angelo argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that the case should be dismissed, contending the allegations relied largely on secondhand accounts. The juvenile court process, he said, had limited his ability to challenge the evidence before trial, including cross-examining witnesses.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office declined to comment Tuesday.
The February protest by dozens of high school students against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown Quakertown escalated after McElree, who was not in uniform, became involved, according to police and witness accounts.
Police have said McElree was injured after he attempted to take a boy into custody and multiple students rushed in, striking him. Witnesses and the teens’ attorneys have said McElree was the aggressor in the fray. Video of the encounter captured McElree placing one girl in a chokehold and prompted sharp criticism from some residents who called for disciplinary action against him.
McElree also serves as the borough’s manager.
In the weeks that followed, the Police Chiefs’ Association of Bucks County issued a report saying the chief had been attempting to maintain order during an increasingly volatile situation and clearing him of any wrongdoing. Last week, the Quakertown Borough Council released a statement expressing support for the police department and the chief.
Angelo on Tuesday dismissed those responses as biased and politically motivated. The police association report is “utterly absurd and obviously a conflict of interest,” he said.
“When you add to that report the fact that the borough council has essentially exonerated him, and the waffling of the District Attorney [Joe] Khan,” Angelo added, “it looks like power circling the wagons to protect power.”