Young People for Progress members condemned the actions of the Montgomery County Police to break up student fights outside a Sept. 19 football game at Blake High School.
Officers working a football security detail requested backup after seeing several groups of teenagers fighting near the tennis courts and parking lot. Montgomery County Public Schools security staff attempted to break up the fights, but hundreds of students ignored repeated requests to leave.
As reported by MCM, police attempted to de-escalate the situation by launching several air pops while ordering the crowd to leave the premises. Air pops are loud sounds that do not release ammunition or pepper.
Members of the social justice group “are deeply concerned,” according to a news release from Dorien Rogers, the group’s field organizer.
While nothing but air pops were released, according to police, Young People for Progress sent a news release decrying the police’s actions around high school students. “This action escalates fear, normalizes militarized policing in school settings, and communicates to young people that their presence warrants fear and force rather than care,” it states in the release.
Principals from Blake, Springbrook and Paint Branch high schools, whose students attended the game, sent a message to families that stated police fired pepper ball rounds at the ground, which caused “momentary confusion, but was effective in clearing the scene.”
According to Young People for Progress, what happened at Blake “underscores a deeper problem: Montgomery County continues to rely on policing and militarization as the default response to youth conflict. So-called “less lethal” weapons are still dangerous, still traumatizing, and still send the wrong message to students.”
Organization members of the social justice group called for restorative justice programs, conflict mediation and mentorship programs as well as youth-centered investments.
In the news release, members urged the county to prohibit the use of pepper ball launchers and any chemical or projectile weapons around schools. They also call for a transparent review process of school safety practices and alternatives to policing.
“Montgomery County students deserve to be safe and supported—not intimidated by weapons,” Rogers wrote.
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