Community Corner

Cop-Student Incident Brings NAACP To Round Rock High School

The group weighed in on last week's incident between Round Rock student, police officer.

The NAACP got involved in the discussion surrounding an Thursday incident between a police officer and a student at Round Rock High School.

At a press conference held at the school Tuesday, the head of the Austin NAACP, Nelson Linder, said the school resources officer should be placed on leave, reported the Austin American-Statesman.

β€œCops are often too ready to put their hands on people,” he told reporters outside Round Rock High School on Tuesday. β€œParents should know we’re going to hold these officers accountable.”

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The incident, which was caught on video by another student, started when school administrators called police to break up a fight between one student and another.

The video shows two officers standing in front of Hughes, who is in a corner. After Hughes appears to grab the wrist of the officer, the officer is seen grabbing the Hughes by the neck and bringing him to the ground. The officer had been making contact with Hughes before the takedown.

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Linder said the officers should not have used force on Hughes to de-escalated the situation. He also called for an examination of the use of force to avoid a similar incident in the future.

Here’s how the police described the incident in a press release Oct. 9.

β€œThe student refused to calm down and was attempting to get past the School Resource Officers to the location of the other student to continue with the altercation. After repeated attempts to calm the non-compliant student, and stop him from going after the other student, officers were forced to detain him for his safety and the safety of others.”

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