Grebien Says ACLU “Exploited” Arrest of African-American Student at MLK Day Press Event
Monday, January 20, 2020
Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien has issued a retort to the ACLU of Rhode Island's press announcement on Monday, in which the ACLU accused a city School Resource Officer (SRO) of the "gratuitous and unlawful handcuffing and arrest of a 13-year-old African-American middle school honors student."
After an ACLU cooperating attorney said the arrest "reflects a national problem of criminalizing Black girls in our schools," Grebien claimed the ACLU had "total disregard for the community in its attempt to exploit this occurrence."
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Grebien issued the following statement Monday afternoon:
"On June 3rd, 2019, two students were involved in a violent altercation outside of Goff Middle School prior to the start of the school day. The incident occurred in front of staff and hundreds of students gathered for the beginning of school. Staff immediately responded to separate the two juveniles involved, to prevent the situation from escalating, and to ensure the safety of all Goff students.
This was a serious, violent incident in which the Pawtucket School Department called the Pawtucket Police Department. An officer reported to the school from another assignment to handle the matter. Unfortunately, the actions of the juveniles warranted the decision to arrest and charge both students involved with disorderly conduct.
It’s unfortunate that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has chosen this approach. The incident that occurred at Tolman High School is completely unrelated to the one that occurred at Goff Middle School. Trying to imply that an incident that occurred four years ago at Tolman High School somehow was handled inappropriately and that the fight which occurred June of 2019 at Goff Middle School was handled improperly as well.
In fact, at the end of the investigation related to the Tolman incident four years ago, it was determined that the Pawtucket Police Department and Pawtucket School Department acted reasonably and professionally in this situation. It’s unfortunate the ACLU has total disregard for the community in its attempt to exploit this occurrence.
After a thorough review of the incident and response, including a review of video footage of the altercation and interviews with Goff Middle School staff and the responding SRO, the Pawtucket School Department and the Pawtucket Police Department are highly confident that all protocols were properly followed, and that the ACLU’s potential lawsuit is without merit. We look forward to hearing from the ACLU and gathering all the facts in order to determine the next steps."
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