Clark County School District Police Department Chief Mike Blackeye speaks during a town hall Monday, Mar. 6, 2023. The town hall was held to discuss an investigation into last month’s violent interaction between a CCSD police officer and a Black teen at Durango High School.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 | 4:07 p.m.
The ACLU of Nevada is suing the Clark County School District to force it to turn over body-worn camera footage and other public records from a February incident where district police officers were recorded on video violently detaining a Black teenager outside Durango High School.
The ACLU’s demands include the release of records that the district has also denied to news media, including the Las Vegas Sun. The ACLU, however, is also legally representing two of the Durango students, referred to in court filings as M.W. and J.T.
In its lawsuit filed Tuesday in Clark County district court, the ACLU alleged CCSD committed multiple violations of the Nevada Public Records Act by denying records from the Feb. 9 after-school incident.
The lawsuit makes good on an announcement the ACLU made in March, saying it was giving CCSD a month to comply with public records law or face legal action.
“These records are essential in our fight to adequately investigate this matter, represent our students, and uncover the full scope of these officers’ misconduct. We gave the school district every opportunity to turn over them, but instead CCSD has offered nothing but legal pretenses to withhold information they are required by Nevada law to turn over,” ACLU of Nevada Staff Attorney Jacob Smith said in a statement.
“The school district has forced our hand by refusing to give us the requested records, and as such, we are seeking all fees and penalties allowed under the law in addition to the records we are entitled to.”
A cellphone video clip of the incident, which is just under a minute long, shows a uniformed CCSDPD officer walking in the street to a police vehicle, detaining a teenage boy with his hands behind his back. As he leaned the teen against the hood, another boy walked through the frame, holding out what appeared to be his phone.
The officer then followed him, and they exchanged words, which were largely inaudible over the voices of several other people, although the second teen told the officer what sounded like “don’t touch me.” Within seconds, the officer wrapped his arms around the second teen from behind and took him to the ground, pinning him in the gutter with his knees on the young man’s back.
The officer also shoved another teen who approached and yelled “back the (expletive) up” several times. All of the teens in this incident are Black.
In the days following the incident, CCSDPD Chief Mike Blackeye confirmed the officer had been reassigned and announced a new community committee to give feedback to police.
Additionally, protestors have demonstrated in front of CCSD headquarters and Blackeye has spoken broadly about the case and police protocols with local civil rights leaders and Nevada lawmakers. The chief has said that a weapons investigation preceded the Durango incident, though the department has not said that a weapon was found that day.
In its lawsuit, the ACLU said CCSD gave the organization’s requests a “flat denial” without indicating what records the district possessed that would have been subject to the request or what confidentiality provisions applied. When the ACLU asked CCSD to clarify and reminded the district that it was representing M.W. and J.T., the district said the records could not be released because they were part of pending juvenile justice and employment matters.
The ACLU alleges that CCSD relied on inapplicable confidentiality provisions; as two of the teens’ lawyers, the ACLU said the juvenile confidentiality reason, in particular, doesn’t apply. At most, some redactions could be appropriate, the group said in its filing.
“ACLU of Nevada have several compelling interests in the records such as the oversight of law enforcement, the safety of the community, and the accountability of a law enforcement officer,” the group wrote. “ACLU of Nevada has an even greater interest in the records as ACLU of Nevada seeks to inform its clients on their rights related to the Feb. 9 incident.”
A CCSD representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though the district typically does not comment on pending legislation.
