In yet another incident proving that students are stripped of their Constitutional rights after stepping on school grounds, Idaho school officials confiscated phones from students who were video recording a pair of cops aggressively arresting a student.
Initial reports indicate that footage was deleted from several phones, but one video that did survive shows a school employee placing her hand in front of the lens, stating, “You don’t need to video.”
The woman, identified by a PINAC reader as school counselor Ann Marie Waibel, then orders the students away. The video ends with her telling everybody to stop recording.
The incident took place Friday at Frank Church High School in Boise after a pair of school resource officers, whom are always around these days to arrest students for indiscretions that used to be handled through detentions or suspensions, tried to arrest a 17-year-old boy because he had been sitting in the hallway with his legs stretched before him, forcing teachers to have to step over him when walking past.
Certainly an issue that needed to be addressed trough the judicial system before it got out of hand.
The student apparently had been kicked out of his home the prior night and ended up sleeping in an alleyway. He was thrown out of class for sleeping, which is how he ended up sitting in the hallway with his legs sprawled before him.
Witnesses told a local blogger that the student copped an attitude when ordered to report to the office for his indiscretion, so naturally, police were called.
According to Idaho Calling:
In a brief phone interview, Dan Holler, spokesman for the Boise School District stated that the incident occurred between another student and a staff member. Referring further comment to the Boise Police Department citing the incident, as a “Law Enforcement issue.”
Carsten, a student at the school, whose last name has been removed for Privacy reasons. Described the incident in a Facebook post; “An office aid told me it was because he was sitting in the hallway with his legs out, and the teachers didn’t like having to step over his legs so they sent him to the office, then he got an attitude and it pretty much went from there.”
Derek, the original videographer recording the incident said, “I honestly just don’t wanna see the kid get assault on a officer.”
The video itself, was originally posted to Facebook.
Lt. Ron Winegar with the Boise Police Department had described the following information from what was told to him by Officers involved; “It involved a student who was either expelled or suspended by the school officials.” Further describing the incident, Lt. Winegar expanded on the issue; “The School Resource officer attempted to escort the student off school grounds after he had been told to leave and refused. The student battered the officer and was arrested after a physical struggle to place him in custody.” Amber, another student at the school, stated in a Facebook post. “really says something about our officers if they need two officers to one teen in high school!”
Awakened Citizen, which has done further reporting on the incident, reported the name of the leg-sprawling student as Joseph Turner.
According to multiple eye-witness accounts, School Resource Officer Kane and School Security Officer Espinoza did indeed use excessive force.
Friend to Turner and eyewitness Rainy Sargent said, “I did not witness much of the fight, but what I did see was horrific. Both the SRO and the security guard were using excessive force. I saw them slam his head into a wall, pull his hair, elbow, and knee him. Joe is a great kid. He keeps to himself most of them time, but he’s a total sweetheart. I’m horrified this happened to him of all people.”
When further asked on the background of the situation, Sargent stated, “I was talking to him this morning and he was telling me a lot has been going on in his life lately. He had been kicked out of his house last night, and had to sleep in an alley. He got kicked out of class because he had been sleeping.”
It appears as if Turner just needed somebody to talk to, perhaps a high school counselor.
But she was too busy trying to cover up the aggressive manner in which he was being arrested.
