Quakertown schools are planning counseling and police presence after student arrests at ICE protest

The Quakertown Community School District is planning to offer counseling and has requested a police presence this week after a student walkout Friday to protest federal immigration enforcement ended in a clash with police and multiple student arrests.

“Our responsibility is to focus on creating as safe and supportive a learning environment as possible for students and staff to return to school this week,” acting Superintendent Lisa Hoffman said in a statement Sunday night.

Like districts across the region, Quakertown schools were closed Monday because of snow. But administrators are preparing to reopen amid continuing intense attention from Friday’s walkout, which involved about 35 students from Quakertown Senior High School. Unlike other walkouts at Philadelphia-area schools by students protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Quakertown’s protest turned confrontational.

Videos circulating online appear to show the Quakertown Borough police chief putting a teenage girl in a chokehold during the incident, which police said involved students entering traffic and damaging property and resulted in the arrests of five students and one adult.

The status of the students who were arrested, including whether they were still in custody, wasn’t clear Monday. A spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office — which is investigating the police response to the protest — said state law barred the office from discussing the teenagers’ cases.

The spokesperson, Manuel Gamiz, did not respond to questions about the charges, where the students were being held, or when they would be arraigned. While police had said one adult was arrested, Gamiz said that to his knowledge “no adult was ever charged” in connection with the incident.

Community members organized by the group Upper Bucks United are expected to demand the immediate suspension of the police chief, Scott McElree, at a borough council meeting Monday night. An online petition also calls for McElree’s resignation.

McElree, who is also the borough manager, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Reached by phone Monday afternoon, borough council vice president James Roberts Jr. hung up on a reporter. He did not answer a second call. Messages left for four other council members were not immediately returned Monday.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement Monday that “by all accounts, including abundant video evidence, there were no issues at the demonstration until Quakertown police arrived and incited violence.”

Walczak called for a “full and transparent investigation” and for Quakertown police and McElree “to be held accountable for their actions if the evidence confirms the apparent excessive force, retaliation and false arrest.”

In response to a series of questions sent Monday, the police department sent a written statement, saying the borough and department were “fully cooperating with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office concerning this investigation. Until this investigation is complete, neither the Borough nor its Police Department will be commenting on this matter.”

In her statement Sunday, Hoffman offered more context about Friday’s walkout, which the district had attempted to cancel that morning.

In the week leading up to the walkout, Hoffman said, administrators met with student organizers “to discuss alternative ways to demonstrate their right to free speech that wouldn’t disrupt the school day.”

Like “nearly every school district across the region,” Hoffman said, “it is our practice not to endorse or facilitate a student walkout during the school day for any reason. However, we also know it is our responsibility and duty to provide reasonable safety and security support for students and staff members who enter and exit our schools.”

The district was concerned that students who planned to participate in the walkout reported they were being bullied and threatened, Hoffman said.

At 9 p.m. Thursday, Hoffman said, “the district received what was deemed a new and concerning threat of violence.” A district spokesperson did not respond to questions Monday, including about the nature of the threat.

Though the district issued a notice and met with student organizers before school Friday, attempting to cancel the protest, administrators gathered in front of the high school at 11:25 a.m. Friday, preparing for the “the possibility that students would proceed with their walkout despite the safety concerns shared with them,” Hoffman said.

As students walked off campus — not following any previously discussed route, Hoffman said — district officials heard from community members that some students in town “were engaging in disruptive and unsafe behavior,” Hoffman said.

At that point, students “were no longer under the district’s custodial control or supervision, and we have almost no legal ability to regulate or investigate their behavior,” she said.

Hoffman said the district has no additional information on arrests or the investigation. She said administrators and “many of our staff members have been inundated with hateful messages and concerning physical threats to our personal safety via email, phone, and social media” since the walkout.

“This is simply inexcusable,” Hoffman said. “We have and will continue to report these threats to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

The district is working with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit to develop a “counseling support plan” for students and staff, Hoffman said. She also said it had “communicated with our law enforcement partners for police presence and support as we return to school.”

Over the weekend, supporters created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the students’ legal fees, court costs, medical expenses, and other support services. By Monday afternoon, it had collected more than $28,000. The campaign’s organizer did not respond to a request for comment.