2 Enumclaw High School students arrested during walkout after reported assault

Two Enumclaw High School students were arrested Friday during a student-led anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) walkout after a reported assault and a confrontation involving dozens of protesters.

Enumclaw Police Chief Tim Floyd said officers were alerted when a man reported he was assaulted and showed police video of the suspect, who is described as a 17-year-old girl.

“Officers recognized the suspect from other contacts that we’ve had with her,” Floyd said. “As the officers moved towards the crowd to take the juvenile female into custody, she saw them and took off running.”

That’s when “a small scuffle took place in the middle of the road,” Floyd said, and a second female student tried to pull the assault suspect away from officers. A social media video shows a crowd of protesters following police as officers walk the two students to jail.

“Just because you’re involved in a quote, unquote, peaceful protest, it doesn’t give anybody a free hall pass to commit violence,” Floyd said. “And the lack of maturity that was being displayed took it from just a First Amendment protest to speak your mind to a confrontation that became a crime.”

Both students released to parents after arrests

The first student was arrested for assault, resisting arrest, and obstructing a law enforcement officer. The second was arrested for obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Both were later released to parents because “the suspects did not meet booking criteria for the King County Juvenile Detention Center,” according to a statement from Enumclaw PD.

The Enumclaw School District stated in a letter to families that the walkout was a student-led event that “was not organized or promoted by the district in any way.”

About 100 students left Enumclaw High School during the demonstration, and those who walked out were marked unexcused, the district said.

“There is a lot of inaccurate information being shared, and we want to be clear about what happened,” the district wrote.

Police are reviewing other videos of the incident and said more charges could be coming for other people involved.

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