Juvenile judge orders electronic monitoring as investigation into police response continues
At least three of the "Quakertown 5" Quakertown Community High School students arrested during Friday's ICE protest have been released after four days in custody, following closed juvenile detention hearings Tuesday at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown.
According to the Bucks County Courier Times, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Denise Bowman ordered the teens released to house arrest with electronic monitoring.
The students will be permitted to attend school as their cases move through the juvenile court system. The status of the remaining two teens was not immediately known, per the report.
Juvenile proceedings are confidential, and most case details — including formal charging documents — are not publicly available, according to the Courier Times.
However, an attorney confirmed that at least two teens are facing felony aggravated assault charges tied to the confrontation with Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree, according to the article.
Outside the courthouse, about 20 supporters held signs reading “We ♥ the Quakertown 5” and “We Support Quakertown Students.”
Defense attorney Ettore “Ed” Angelo, representing a 15-year-old girl charged with felony aggravated assault and resisting arrest, told the Courier Times his client denies having any physical contact with McElree and has no prior record.
“She is really a bright kid,” Angelo told the Courier Times. “The system is not what it needs to be.”
The arrests stem from a teen-led walkout that moved off campus after school officials canceled an on-campus protest due to what the district described as a “concerning threat.”
Video widely circulated on social media shows McElree, 72, entering a group of student protesters on Front Street and restraining at least two individuals, including a 15-year-old girl who was placed in a chokehold and taken to the ground.
Police have alleged that some students damaged a vehicle, kicked tires, threw snowballs at cars and ignored commands not to enter the roadway before the confrontation escalated, according to media reports.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into the incident.
As previously reported by CentralBucksNow, dozens of residents packed Monday night’s Quakertown Borough Council meeting to demand McElree’s suspension or resignation.
A petition calling for his termination was 70 signatures short of 10,000, as of 1 a.m. Wednesday.
Neither McElree nor borough officials have commented publicly beyond stating they are cooperating with the investigation.
