On Tuesday night ethnic studies supporters once again descended on the Tucson Unified School District board meeting. And once again, the situation spiraled out of control. When speakers refused to stop addressing the board after being ordered to do so, police waded in and began escorting them out of the room.

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For the second time in a week, a Tucson Unified School District meeting was disrupted by the battle over Ethnic Studies.

Tuesday night's meeting was scheduled after a April 26th meeting was interrupted due to a raucous student-led protest that forced school board members to end the meeting. Board members were supposed to vote on a proposal to classify the Mexican-American Studies program as elective courses rather than core curriculum requirements. Instead, the vote was delayed again in part because of a YouTube video that seemingly encouraged violence against the students that participated in the protest. Still, TUSD Superintendent Dr. John Pedicone wanted to give both sides of the Ethnic Studies debate a chance to voice their concerns before the board.

The meeting at TUSD headquarters started off calmly, even with metal detectors outside the building and a heavy police presence inside. Although the mood was tense, people voiced their opinions to board members.

"Dr. Pedicone, que verguenza? Are you disconnected to our community? Do you not understand our community?" one speaker asked.

"I object to what this board has done. I object to what this district is doing to this population," another woman declared.

However, the calm ended after several members of the public spoke about Ethnic Studies and board members tried to move on to another subject. When people in the audience tried to motion to let people continue speaking about Ethnic Studies, the microphones were turned off and board members called for waiting police officers to come inside the room.

Officers in full riot gear escorted board members to safety and took control of the room, arresting people who continued to add to the commotion. 9 On Your Side reporter Ileana Diaz counted six people who were dragged out of the room and ticketed. University of Arizona Ethnic Studies professor Roberto Rodriguez was one of the people who was pulled out of the room by police.

"We asked for an extension of time {on the discussion}. And they refused. They said they want dialogue, but they didn't give us any dialogue. What they did is simply say no," Rodriguez said. "And I sat down and somebody else got up, and all of a sudden, they started moving in, they moved in on this older woman."

The woman was Lupe Castillo, possibly Tucson's best-known Ethnic Studies educator.

"Were you arrested in there?" asked KGUN9 reporter Joel Waldman.

"Yes, I was given a ticket and I have to appear in court," Castillo replied. "I understood when I got up that there might be that possibility."

Superintendent Pedicone said the police action inside the board room was necessary.

"There's no way we can restore order without having some degree of support from police presence, and that's exactly what happened," Dr. Pedicone explained.

"And you think it's appropriate to have TPD officers take out those six people one by one?" Diaz asked.

"Yes, absolutely," Dr. Pedicone answered. "In that situation, there was no other recourse."

Outside the TUSD building, demonstrators linked arms, turning themselves into a human chain, attempting to block more officers, who had to use force to break through. Many people objected to the large police presence.

"They're treating us like we're going to be some kind of violent mob or rioters, but we are peaceful protesters," said Ethnic Studies student Ryan Gonzales.

Castillo told KGUN9 she felt the added security measures were "horrific."

"We are being treated as if we are a community under siege," she said.

It took police officers in riot gear about twenty minutes to restore order to the meeting. Once things calmed down, board members came back into the room and resumed the meeting. Board members decided to further delay the Ethnic Studies vote until more feedback can be gathered from the public.



http://www.kgun9.com/story/14574427/raw-video-ethnic-studies-battle-sparks-2nd-wild-night-at-tusd?redirected=true

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