Police involvement in fight outside Coralville school raises questions for some residents

A fight between students outside a junior high school in Coralville on March 24 has led to charges against three teenagers and concerns from the families involved that police conduct was excessive.

Staff at Northwest Junior High School called the Coralville Police Department just after 3 p.m. in response to a fight in progress. It's unclear how many students participated in the fight or watched it happen, but it took place just after the final bell rang — the time of day when hundreds of students pour out of the building to head home.

School administrators and school staff attempted to de-escalate the situation; however, it became apparent that the assistance of the Coralville Police Department was necessary to ensure the safety of all involved, the school district said in a statement. Two staff were "unintentionally injured" in the incident, the district said.

Ten police officers were present at the scene, documents show.

One of the minors is being charged with interference with official acts, assault on a police officer causing injury and disorderly conduct. Another is being charged for interference with official acts and assaulting a police officer. A third is being charged for disorderly conduct.

Police are not identifying the students because of their ages.

"This case remains under investigation and additional charges are expected, also involving juveniles," Coralville Police Chief Shane Kron told the Press-Citizen via email.

A video of the incident circulating on social media shows a boy being held to the ground with his face pressed to the pavement by a woman who does not appear to be in police uniform. A male police officer is standing next to the woman.

The Press-Citizen spoke with four eyewitnesses and four concerned parents about the incident.

In an interview with the Press-Citizen, the student in that video said he participated in the fight but was walking home peacefully when officers brought him to the ground. He is 14 and approximately 5-feet, 4-inches tall and 120 pounds. He is an eighth-grader at Northwest.

In his account, he was walking away when two people, not in police uniform, asked him to stop and speak with them. He declined and kept walking, before someone "yanked" his shoulder, which he said caused him to react physically in self-defense. Police in uniform then approached, and he was brought to the pavement.

Charges against him include assaulting a police officer causing injury.

He's also been suspended from school for 10 days, the maximum allowed by school board policy. He said he was also asked not to come to school on Friday, the day after the incident, but that 11th day out of school was not formally included in the suspension.

His mother, Sylvia Tanner, said she has been concerned about her son missing so much time in school. He's been getting assignments online the meantime. The 10-day suspension seemed long, she said in an interview, but "there was nothing I could do about it."

A different 14-year-old Northwest student told the Press-Citizen she remembers being confused watching the police interact with her peers. She didn't participate in the fight, or act violently, but yelled at police in fear for the students' safety, she said.

Then she remembers being on the ground, police on top of her.

She is also being charged with assaulting a police officer.

Her mother, Nikisha Archer, said watching a video of her daughter interacting with police that day wasn't easy.

"I was mad. I was sad. I was scared; everything," she said in an interview.

Neither Tanner nor Archer were able to talk with their children until they ended up at the police station, which they said raised more concern

The Press-Citizen requested body camera footage and incident reports from Coralville police. The request was denied. Kron said the records are considered part of an investigative report for an open case.

Kron would not say whether plainclothes officers were present at the scene or comment on allegations that they didn't identify as law enforcement, whether weapons were involved in the fight, or explain the extent of police injures that are cited in the charges.

He also declined to respond to allegations that officers were unnecessarily forceful with students.

"We will present evidence to the juvenile court at a hearing when required, and those accused of delinquency may do the same. We do not try cases on social media or in the press," Kron wrote in an email.

The expectation is that when police officers get to a scene, they act with respect, said local activist Angel Taylor. She said she's concerned about charges being filed against children if, in their account, police were acting improperly, and that Black children are being treated unfairly by police.

"Racism is built and embedded in the history of America. This is still a manifestation of that, and it has to stop," she said.

'Our schools are on fire': Community meets about police incident

About 50 people gathered in the Northwest auditorium on Wednesday for a meeting about the incident hosted by the Black Voices Project.

"You know why we're here. Our schools are on fire," said Royceann Porter, co-founder of the BVP and chair of the county Board of Supervisors, at the onset of the meeting.

Questions from the community centered around the school climate, the factors that lead to fights among children, and resources for their mental health that could serve as prevention.

No parents, children or staff directly involved with the incident at Northwest spoke that night. District Superintendent Matt Degner was in attendance, as were several staff from the district's equity department and local religious leaders. The school district did not comment on the incident beyond its statement.

In an interview, Porter said she's hoping to schedule a meeting with Kron about the incident.

"I know it was chaotic. And I just need to look at the big picture, I need to see it all. I'm not going to make any decisions or saying anything at this point," she said.

Cleo Krejci covers education for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. You can reach her at ckrejci@press-citizen.com.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Three teens charged after police called to Coralville school fight