Footage from Athens High School is confirming some accounts and disproving others after an altercation Wednesday between police, students and parents.

Athens Police Chief Floyd Johnson said in an effort of transparency, APD and Athens City Schools would share recordings from the event with media. However, due to the ongoing investigation and the appearance of “up to 100 children” in the recordings, Johnson said a copy would not be made available to the public.

Athens Police Department shared audio and video recordings from police officer body cameras with media outlets on the agreement that reporters would not attempt to make their own recordings of the shared footage. Athens City Schools agreed to share video recordings from motion-activated security cameras at the school.

Parents were at the school to meet with interim principal Rick Carter after five students were sentenced to 20 days of in-school suspension for disrupting class. The meeting occurred during Power Hour, a free period for students, and students were gathered in the lobby area of the school.

At one point in the video, school resource officers are asked to clear a waiting area of students not scheduled to be in the meeting. An SRO also instructed students in the lobby immediately outside the waiting area to leave as well.

While multiple students refused, 18-year-old Makaleb Boykin began cursing at officers. Boykin was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and put in handcuffs in the lobby area of the school as other students gathered. Some recorded the incident on their phones. Both SROs can be seen exiting the school to take the student to an APD vehicle outside the building.

Body camera footage shows an officer instructing students to re-enter the school. Upon re-entering, audio recordings from the officer’s body camera picked up sounds of a parent, identified as Amanda Loggins, raising her fist and chanting “Black Lives Matter” to students in the lobby.

Loggins was asked to leave but can be seen and heard refusing, saying she was there “to check out her son.” When an officer again requested students stop speaking and re-enter the lobby, 18-year-old Gabrielle Kirby can be seen and heard claiming it was her First Amendment right to speak and not move. The officer instructed the students to re-enter the lobby.

While the officer raised his hands to physically guide students into the lobby, a juvenile student walked around behind the officer and can be seen on security footage pushing him. The officer can be seen also pushing a student, at which point more students approached the scene.

Within seconds, the altercation escalated. Students and Loggins can be seen waving fists at the officer. At one point, a student steps away, drops her backpack and returns to swing at the officer. The officer executed what Athens Police Capt. Trevor Harris called “a textbook brachial stun,” in which the officer used his left forearm to strike the student in the neck.

The student can be seen falling to the ground, where she remained for about 12 seconds while others checked on her. She then stands and walks with assistance outside the school.

Body camera footage shows the officer’s right arm attempting to hold Loggins despite Kirby standing between them. At some point, a fourth person appeared next to the trio, and in the struggle, someone makes bodily contact with Loggins, causing her to fall.

Harris said it is clear from his point of view that the SRO did not kick or otherwise make contact with Loggins’ stomach.

“It wasn’t us,” he said. “… We didn’t do it.”

After the altercation

Multiple officers from Athens Police Department and Limestone County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for backup during the altercation. When all was said and done, four arrests were made. Each is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, is defined by the Code of Alabama as being committed “if, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he or she does any of the following: engages in fighting or in violent tumultuous or threatening behavior; makes unreasonable noise; in a public place uses abusive or obscene language or makes an obscene gesture; without lawful authority, disturbs any lawful assembly or meeting of persons; obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or a transportation facility; or congregates with other persons in a public place and refuse to comply with a lawful order of law enforcement to disperse.”

The Code further states “a person commits the crime of resisting arrest if he intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a peace officer from affecting a lawful arrest of himself or of another person.”

APD confirmed 39-year-old Loggins, 18-year-old Kirby and 18-year-old Boykin were arrested. A fourth person was arrested but has not been identified due to their juvenile status.

Boykin was charged with resisting arrest after body camera footage from the SRO not involved in the altercation inside the school showed Boykin attempting to run from the officer while handcuffed. Harris said Boykin fell shortly after turning to run, resulting in scratches to his face that were treated by officers at the police department.

Protest on the Square

Parents, students and local officials gathered for a peaceful protest in front of the Limestone County Courthouse in Athens. Wilbert Woodruff, Limestone County NAACP chapter president, said the NAACP would be conducting its own investigation into the altercation to see if student rights or civil rights were violated.

“NAACP has always stood up against injustice and civil rights,” Woodruff told those gathered. “… We have got to stand up as a community when our civil rights are being violated. We are here for the community and children, and we’re gonna stand here until God calls us home.”

Protesters held homemade signs while parents and students spoke about what they felt was an injustice and a sign of ongoing racism at the school and in the city.

“It’s been happening for many, many years here and nothing’s been done about it,” said Barbara Kirby, whose son was involved in the initial class disruption Tuesday and in Wednesday’s altercation. “I vow to take a stand for my child.”

Barbara Kirby said her son was given the ISS sentence and told he couldn’t go to prom. She said the sentence was later removed and her son “exonerated.”

She and other individuals at the protest called for the removal of the interim principal and the school resource officer directly involved in the altercation. Johnson said he had full confidence in the officer, who serves as an SRO when off duty from APD, and the officer would be back on duty Friday with APD.

No decision has been made at this time regarding the officer’s return to duty as an SRO.