A chaotic scene played out in front of Jehue Middle School on Thursday, March 13, as civil rights leaders called on the Colton Police Department to arrest a boy who fought with a girl in a classroom incident partly captured on video and shared widely on social media.
The news conference started only minutes after hundreds of students spilled out of the classrooms after the final bell of the day and were shocked to see a phalanx of news cameras set up on a street corner.
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The video shows a male Latino student restraining a much smaller Black female student, pressing his hand against her head and face and holding her down. He releases her and pushes her into a table. The girl then grabs a laptop computer off the table, spins around and throws it at the boy, who then grabs the girl and slams her, head first, into a table. She then collapses to the floor, momentarily lying still before she is helped up by another student. Students are heard shouting racial epithets during the pandemonium.
“She’s knocked out, bro,” one student is heard saying, as the boy who slammed the girl into the table picks up his glasses from the ground, smiles and walks away.
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The video was posted to various social media accounts on Wednesday and Thursday.
“What happened to her should not happen to anyone,” said Najee Ali, a social and political activist who appeared at the news conference. “Expel him.”
As the community leaders spoke Thursday, Colton police issued a news release announcing that the combatants, who are both 14-year-old eighth-graders, had been cited. The release described the boy as the victim, and said he was struck in the head multiple times with a metal object before the video was shot.
Colton police Sgt. Mike Sandoval described the metal object as a drinking bottle, and said both students were arrested, cited and released — the girl for felony assault with a deadly weapon and the boy for misdemeanor battery. Both were suspended and face possible expulsion, he said.
The case is still under investigation, and police will submit it to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, Juvenile Division, for review, Sandoval said.
He said there appeared to be no history of problems between the two students, and that Monday’s classroom brawl appeared to be random, with no hint that it was racially motivated. “There’s no indication of that at all,” Sandoval said in a telephone interview.
Others, however, believe the female student was the victim.
“We’re calling immediately for those citations, especially to the young lady, to be rescinded,” said Samuel Casey, senior pastor of the New Life Christian Church and first vice president of Inland Empire Concerned African-American Churches.
As he and others spoke at the news conference, referring to the girl as a victim, dozens of students with their phones out shooting images formed a circle around the gathering.
Some people expressed concern that the substitute teacher in the classroom did not intervene. A student in the science class, Angel Rivera, said the teacher was instead calling security.
Rialto Unified spokeswoman Syeda Jafri said “quick and decisive action” has been taken against the teacher, but did not say what that was or why. Jafri said she would research the district’s policy on intervening in fights.
Jafri said the district’s investigation is continuing.
“Hate has no place in our world, hate has no place in our country, hate has no place in the state of California and hate has no place in Rialto Unified School District,” Jafri said.
Officers responded to the school Monday morning and obtained statements from the teacher, who was present at the time of the fight, and multiple other witnesses, police said.
While Jehue Middle School is within Colton city limits, it is part of the Rialto Unified School District, which posted a safety bulletin on its social media sites Thursday after the video went public on social media.
“This disturbing and unfortunate incident is under investigation by the district and local authorities,” said the bulletin, which noted that the district “acted promptly and contacted the parents of the students involved, and medical aid was also provided.”
The bulletin states that “corrective measures” were taken, but does not provide specifics.
Jehue Middle School serves students in grades 6-8 and has an enrollment of 1,460 students. It’s racial/ethnic makeup is 91% Latino, 4.6% Black and 1.9% White, according to California Department of Education data.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident or has information regarding it to contact the Colton Police Department at 909-370-5000. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the We-Tip at 1-800-78-crime or visit http://www.wetip.com.
