Community demands: ‘Justice for the Quakertown 5!’

After 35 teenage students walked out of their high school in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, to protest the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Feb. 20, they were attacked by the town’s police chief, Scott McElree, who was not in uniform nor did he identify himself. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Feb. 22, that eyewitnesses, including some who videoed the incident, claimed that McElree, dressed in plain clothes, charged into the crowd of students, pushed one boy to the ground and put one teenager in a chokehold.

However, five students, some who were injured by McElree and other police officers while defending themselves, were arrested initially on simple assault charges, which were then elevated to aggravated assault, a felony, because their alleged “victim” was a police officer.  

The youth, including two who were injured, were held in jail for over 72 hours. The last of the five detainees was not released until Feb. 26.

Many of the students are youth of color and some are children of immigrants. As they were marching from their campus, they were taunted and harassed by another group of students yelling insults, including racist epithets, at them.   One student told the Inquirer that counterprotesters also drove past them in vehicles, honking and shouting.  (Feb. 22)

The Inquirer reported that Ettore Angelo, one of the attorneys for the arrested youth, said, “McElree arrived in an unmarked car, had no badge or hat or uniform on, and never identified himself” before he barged into the crowd of students, some who acted to protect one another. He said  McElree “put himself smack in the middle and created a melee,” and added, “I think he owes the community and these teenagers an apology.”

Parents and other supporters of the students, angry over the district’s handling of the protest, took their demands for McElree’s resignation to the Quakertown Council meeting on Feb. 26.  However, a major problem is that McElree is not only the top cop, he is also the borough manager.  

History of racism in borough

Located roughly 47 miles north of Philadelphia, white people make up 77% of Quakertown’s population of 9,300 residents. Black, Asian and Latine residents make up the rest.  Many speakers at the council meeting linked the attacks on students to the broader climate of intolerance and racism in Quakertown. 

At a meeting of the local school board on Feb. 26, one parent, Ashley Crowell, stated: “Our students spoke up and that resulted in mismanagement of the situation by white men, with ignorance of other people’s lived experiences with discrimination.” (Inquirer, Feb. 27)

Attorneys for the teenagers have also raised concerns about McElree’s right-wing-social media posts, heavy with MAGA-leaning talking points.

Justice for the Quakertown 5!