An Oakland Unified School District police car was severely damaged when a group of students at Fremont High School in East Oakland walked off campus Wednesday in protest of an incident involving a security guard and vice principal that led to bruise marks on a student, a district spokesman said.
The walkout by more than 150 students was in reaction to a confrontation between a 16-year-old male student with a security guard at the school on Jan. 8.
Footage released last week shows the 16-year-old walking toward the main office exit when two school employees stop him. One of the employees, identified as the security guard, tries to the handcuff him – what happens next is still under investigation since the confrontation was moved towards a hallway with no security cameras. Photos of the student with bruises on his body have surfaced, along with the surveillance video.
Some students are demanding the resignation of those involved.
District spokesman Isaac Kos-Read said the district staff respects the student’s free speech rights and that the success of the school is a top priority.
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In a separate incident, Fremont High student Jonathan Rodriguez on Friday filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court in Oakland, alleging that he suffered emotional distress and injuries when two security guards at the school assaulted him and put him in a chokehold two years ago.
NBC Bay Area's Yoselinne Rodriguez and Bay City News contributed to this report.
