Video and photos of an anti-racism protest that turned violent at a Southern California high school show a school security guard kneeling on a student’s neck.
The incident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Indian Springs High School in San Bernardino during a planned “peaceful protest” involving students.
According to school officials, the group became “unmanageable” and refused faculty requests to return to class, prompting a security officer to pepper spray the group.
Video shows the moment an unknown teacher struggles with a student outside a classroom as security guards watch and other students try to break up the altercation.
Students held a “peaceful walkout” at the high school over calls to remove “racist staff and teachers,” according to a post from one of the organizers.
Video and photos purportedly of an anti-racism protest that turned violent at a Southern California high school show a school security guard kneeling on a student’s neck
This is the unknown teacher struggling with a student outside a classroom as security guards watch and other students try to break up the altercation
“My personal encounters with him (the teacher) include verbal abuse, sexual harassment, discrimination based on race and religion, bullying, as well as pressuring political beliefs with consequences if not adhered to,” said Gyhana Woods, a student .
Woods said she and a friend planned the protest because of ignored reports to school administrators about everything from discrimination to verbal abuse to discrimination.
Woods claimed in her post that the protest only turned violent after the video’s unidentified contributor assaulted a student.
“The protest turned violent after one of our employees assaulted a student,” Woods wrote.
“From there, 4 other innocent arrests were made and an entire group of CHILDREN were sprayed with pepper spray without medical attention,” she said.
The student said the majority of students were able to stay “on track” even after the altercations with the teacher and the pepper spray incident.
Woods added numerous photos and videos from Tuesday’s walkout, saying they serve as evidence of the peaceful nature of the students and how violent things got.
In one of the videos, a student can be heard addressing the crowd, pleading for the group to use their voice and fight back against “racist” teachers.
Another photo reportedly shows a school security guard kneeling on a student’s neck. However, neither the student nor the officer have been identified.
“This story still deserves to be heard to reach children facing the same struggles. I hope we all find peace and realize that by the grace of God our struggle continues to complete our message,” Woods continued.
“School should be a safe place, not a battlefield,” she wrote.
Another angle of the moment students
This is Indian Springs High School in San Bernardino, California, where a “peaceful protest” turned violent Tuesday afternoon
Another video posted to social media shows the moment a student is locked in an altercation with a teacher as security guards watch.
The pair argue back and forth before the teen appears to whack the teacher’s phone away, prompting the adult to throw his hands in the air.
Other kids then step in and appear to join in the action or break up the fight.
The guards seen for the first few seconds are standing by behind the educator.
Another angle of that incident was when pepper spray was used during the fight between the students and the teacher.
In that clip, posted to Instagram by Everything San Bernardino, a security guard tackles a teen as the crowd screams.
The videos have now sparked outrage in the community, both on the part of the students and in support of the security officer’s actions.
Overall, school district officials said two students were sent to the nurse’s office for examination and there were no further injuries.
The high school was placed on Secure status for just over an hour and held until 12:30 a.m., when authorities re-evaluated the situation and ruled there were no additional security concerns.
District representatives said KTLA they planned to bring in additional staff and police officers by Wednesday.
Officials also said they are investigating the allegations against the teacher that sparked the protest.
This is when an altercation broke out between a teacher and a student at San Bernardino High School on Tuesday during a protest
The pair argue back and forth before the student appears to whack the teacher or faculty members, prompting the adult to throw his hands in the air
Another look at the altercation between the student and the high school teacher
DailyMail.com contacted the San Bernardino Police Department, who confirmed that the case is being resolved internally within the district and school police.
In a statement to local media, Maria Garcia, communications officer for the San Bernardino Unified School District, said they are working with students and staff.
“We have plans to give students the opportunity to engage in dialogue with each other and with staff so that they can express their views in a way that is constructive and leads to greater understanding,” said Garcia.
“We discourage students from participating in non-peaceful protests because they disrupt teaching and learning and can have negative, unintended consequences,” she continued.