Thread: Racial fights break out at 2 CA schools

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stor ... c2350.html

Racial fights break out at 2 schools

LUNCHTIME: One clash shuts Fontana High. The other at San Bernardino's Pacific High is smaller.


10:22 AM PDT on Saturday, October 14, 2006

By BEN GOAD and RICHARD BROOKS
The Press-Enterprise


Rocks and bottles rained down on police Friday during what police described as a racially charged riot involving more than 500 students at Fontana High School.

Related
Video:Students clash with police at Fontana High School

A fistfight between two female students -- one Hispanic, one black -- touched off the melee, which ended an hour later after officers used smoke grenades, beanbag bullets and pepper spray to disperse the students.

By late afternoon, school officials thought that a small group of students might have orchestrated the incident, using networking Web sites such as MySpace to pass the word, said David Brashear, director of special projects for the Fontana Unified School District.

Another, smaller clash between students of different races at Pacific High School in San Bernardino occurred about the same time. Neither school had any evidence that the two incidents were connected or planned to coincide with the date: Friday the 13th.

Police in Fontana arrested six students, two on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and four on suspicion of obstructing justice and resisting arrest, Sgt. Doug Wagner said. No injuries were reported, he said.

Plans to increase security next week and to open a dialogue with students about racial tensions were in place in the wake of the riot, which also prompted the cancellation of Friday night's football game against rival Redlands High School, Brashear said.

Students at Fontana High had been participating in a lunchtime pep rally for the game when the two girls started fighting.

Someone pulled a fire alarm, and throngs of students joined the fight, mostly choosing sides along racial lines, police and students said.

"Then it just became a full-blown riot," Wagner said. "Students were throwing rocks and bottles and wouldn't be compliant."

Sophomore Ranessa Harding, 14, said the two sides had squared off in an outdoor courtyard at the center of the school when the volley of debris began. Then, the Hispanic group advanced on the black group, said Harding, who is black.

"They rushed us, and they started socking people so we started socking back," she said about the two groups.

"And then they put the whole school on lockdown," she added, referring to school officials.

Police provided a similar account, though they didn't specify which group attacked first. Several students and police also said a group of Tongan and Samoan students joined with the black students in the fight.

Bottles vs. Beanbag Bullets

Within a half-hour, officers from Fontana and several surrounding police departments had blocked off all streets surrounding the school. Hordes of students, mostly in groups, were moving in all directions away from the school.

Some students walked or ran to safety, others shouted racial slurs and taunted the police.

Moments later, police lobbed a smoke grenade toward a group of students who had congregated in a dirt field at the corner of Citrus and San Bernardino avenues. The device exploded with a large boom, sending students scurrying.

"Smoke was deployed, less-lethal beanbags, some sting balls and the pepper gas to disperse the students," Wagner said. "It's unknown whether any of the students were impacted by the less-lethal weapons."

Officers wrestled one male student to the ground in the parking lot of a restaurant near the school, using a baton to force him into submission. The student was led off in handcuffs.

Parents, some with tears streaming down their faces, began arriving at the school less than an hour after the fight started.

"I don't think the school was prepared for something of this magnitude," said parent Suesan Salehinik.

She had heard from her son by cell phone, but police would not allow her to go to the part of the campus where he was.

Brashear said plans were in place for a crisis.

The lockdown was ordered immediately, and all students in classrooms were ordered to stay put, Brashear said.

With 4,200 students at Fontana High, the lockdown was meant to keep uninvolved students out of the fracas, he said. But when the fire alarm went off, teachers had no choice but to empty the school.

Within minutes, a computerized system had called all student home numbers to inform parents that classes had been dismissed because of a problem, he said.

No decisions have been made about disciplinary action. Brashear said the school's investigation will focus on reports that students used online chatter to instigate the fight.

San Bernardino Disturbance

At Pacific High School in San Bernardino, as many as 100 students refused to return to class after the first lunch period, heading instead to the handball courts, said Linda Hill, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

School district police reported seeing two groups: 60 to 75 Hispanics face off against 20 to 25 blacks at the handball courts.

"School police got between the two groups," Hill said. "The Hispanic group charged the smaller group of students, and school police released pellets of pepper spray.

Five students were arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace.

It was the third disturbance at the school in two weeks. A summit with students representing each of the city's high schools is scheduled Wednesday at district headquarters.

"They need to talk to us, and we need to talk to them," Superintendent Arturo Delgado said. "I think the vast majority of our kids would like to see this stop."

After the pepper balls were fired, some students returned to class, Hill said. However, 60 remained and were taken to the administrative offices to be suspended, she said.

One student eventually was taken away by ambulance with face injuries from a pepper ball.

Reach Ben Goad at 909-806-3063 or bgoad@PE.com

Reach Richard Brooks at 909-806-3057 or rbrooks@PE.com

What does this have to do with illegal immigration? This has to do with the city of Fontana, (aka Felony Flats), which might as well be a toilet. This incident is just representative of the ignorance of the city's various citizens.

I found the article at AMERICAN PATROL. I placed this article under news stories from other groups. You can put stories up under immigration or (News stories from other groups).

Look under Discussion groups. You can see different categories to choose.

Originally Posted by Gabriel

What does this have to do with illegal immigration? This has to do with the city of Fontana, (aka Felony Flats), which might as well be a toilet. This incident is just representative of the ignorance of the city's various citizens.

I would say that any story that involves a school that is about eighty percent Hispanic involves illegal immigration.

Latinos make up 82 percent of the school's population, whites 9 percent, blacks 6 percent and less than 1 percent includes Asian/Pacific Islander/American Indian and others.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_4488481

Gabriel, you're back! You sure picked a lousy topic to announce your arrival! The population statistics for that area shows the MASSIVE influx of Hispanics in the last decade. Estimates are that 50% of the Hispanic student body is illegal. Without that added population of frustrated law-breaking gang-bangers, this incident would probably NOT have occurred.

Added to homepage with the following note

ALIPAC Note: These riots would not be happening if our existing immigration laws were enforced and our border secured. Again the illegals are attacking black Americans. These riots are smaller than the school riot in LA last year that involved over 1,000 students.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=N ... e&sid=1597

ALIPAC wrote:

These riots would not be happening if our existing immigration laws were enforced and our border secured.

I would just like to add that the sole person who is at fault for all of our problems with illegal immigration such as murders, rapes, child molestation, etc is OUR STINKING PRESIDENT

Originally Posted by Rockfish

ALIPAC wrote:

These riots would not be happening if our existing immigration laws were enforced and our border secured.

I would just like to add that the sole person who is at fault for all of our problems with illegal immigration such as murders, rapes, child molestation, etc is OUR STINKING PRESIDENT

Right On Rockfish!Was any of bushes loved ones in the fight?
If not,I`m sure he dosn`t care at all.
We need a new Slogan: ......Involve The Bushes