This is a developing story. Click here for an update from the Atherton Police Department.
On Friday, police officers handcuffed two students and one of them to the ground just outside MA. Videos of the incident have circulated on social media, racking up thousands of views, with comments expressing both anger and confusion at what happened. The incident happened just before 3.30pm at the Oak Grove and Middlefield bus stop.
A brother of the student who was pinned to the ground said: “The school called the police, without calling my mum first. She is a minor – she did not physically harm anyone and she did not deserve this .He is currently depressed, scared and shaking. He [had] never experienced police brutality or interactions with the police. As a black man, I thought I was going to die.” The brother said the student was physically injured in the interaction.
Second-year student Funaki Vunipola, who also witnessed the incident, said: “We were all waiting for the bus when the police came, and we were wondering what was going on. They pointed [the student] and he said, “You must come with me.” [He] Of course he was confused and mad, so he said, “I’m not going anywhere.” The cops told the rest of us to step back, while [the student] and two others stayed with the police.”
“They tried to put [him] with fists, but he felt that he was not in the wrong and told the police not to touch him. Then the next thing you know, they have him on the ground, and more and more police officers start showing up,” said minor witness Mahki Tippins.
A second student was also temporarily handcuffed. Vunipola said: “They tried to arrest [the first student]but before they could, one of the boys [the second student] with him he said, “I will not let this happen.”
Tippins said, “I started recording for our safety. Then, [the second student] he was arrested because he didn’t move when he was told.”
Vunipola continued: “We all started recording and the police tried to arrest [the first student], but he started to refuse, backing up and yelling, “You can’t take me, I’m underage.” That’s when they fixed [him] on the ground and used unnecessary force on him. They were kneeling on his stomach, and then they didn’t get off [he] repeatedly screamed in pain. Then they bent his arms back to get him up and dragged him to the police car. [He] he struggled a bit, refusing to get into the car.”
Sophomore Linda Gabele said, “[He] he was confused, and he, I guess, refused a little and then [the police] he was pushed to the ground and two policemen held him down. [He] they started saying it hurts, but they kept going.”
In one of the videos, the student says, “Put me down. My hernia, my stomach.” A student can be heard in the background saying, “Wait, he had surgery.” Interviewees have also said that the student recently had surgery and that this contributed to his pain while he was trapped.
In one video, the student asks the officers to “call my mom” and proceeds to call out his mother’s phone number.
Instagram account @thahoodnews posted a clip of the incident at approximately 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, which, as of 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, has more than 30,000 views.
In the comments section and reposts of this video, people have speculated about what caused the incident and why the police were called. Many students, including the student pinned to the ground, claimed on social media that Vice Principal Stephen Emmi was the one who called the police.
The MA Chronicle the MA administration and the Atherton Police Department have been contacted. Both have yet to comment. In most cases, state law prohibits the release of juvenile disciplinary information.
In an email to students on Sunday afternoon, Principal Karl Losekoot said, “What I can share is that our site administrators requested support from the police department due to an interaction with a student that escalated to the level that our site team felt concerned for their safety as there was physical contact against one of our site leaders along with several verbal threats against that staff member.”
Numerous students had suggested that the incident started with a water gun that the administration had confiscated earlier in the week, which the student wanted to retrieve from the office on Friday. Vunipola said the student had the water gun at school this week for Senior Assassin, a competition that involves seniors trying to spray their assigned peers with water. Senior Ishy Mishra, who helped organize the game, said 108 students are participating.
Losekoot said in the email, “The rumor that our site administrators contacted the police department because a student had a water gun is false. On Friday, countless water guns were confiscated from students, and none of these interactions with the school resulted in a call for police assistance by our site administrators.”
While some comments on social media have suggested that the police may have been reacting to a toy that looked like a real gun that the student had with him at the time, several interviewees have said that the student was not carrying the gun water with him during the incident, and that the water gun looked like a pool noodle, not an actual weapon.
An anonymous student said, “I said it [the student] that my water tube was removed so it was off to the office [on Friday] to get it back because I wanted to use it. When he went, the office was going to give it to him, but then Mr. Emmi came out and said he wouldn’t give it back. They started arguing. Then [the student] he was going to take it, but Mr. Emmi blocked him. They raised their voices, mostly [the student]but he didn’t want to continue, so [he] came out and left, [coming] come back to us at the bus stop.”
The anonymous student went on to say that after the incident, “Once Mr. Emmi came out to see what was going on, the police said, ‘You asked for a disturbance in the office.'” Mr. Emmi went say yes and that you would like to submit a report. [The student] I was already in the police car.”
Losekoot said in the email, “As educators, trained in the vocation of supporting students, the idea of asking the police department for support is something we do not take lightly. It is always the last option when all attempts to de-escalate a situation are not producing the desired result and there is a clear threat to the safety of our students and/or staff.”
Students have reacted on social media with anger and are demanding accountability and transparency. A student group has planned a lunchtime protest on Monday in B-5. Freshman and co-organizer Nora Acosta Aparico said, “We wanted to start this protest because we want to build a safe and trusting community in MA and we want more people of color to be heard.”
Watch videos of the incident here:
