Tensions remain high in Quakertown, Pa., and calls continue mounting for change following an anti-United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest that resulted in five high school students receiving felony aggravated assault charges and a young woman being placed in a chokehold by the police chief.
At least 35 Quakertown Community High School students left school early on Feb. 20, hours after administrators initially canceled the student-led protest over safety concerns. Videos quickly circulated on social media later that day of students and local police clashing, including a viral clip of a man in a tan sweatshirt, who was later identified as Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree, engaging with a young woman before placing her in a chokehold.
Nearly 13,000 people have signed an online petition calling for McElree’s firing as both police chief and borough manager. The petition, which was created on Feb. 20, lists three members of the Quakertown Borough Council — Jonathan Sell, Michael Johnson, and L. James Roberts — as decision-makers.
Another petition, in support of McElree, was launched on March 4 and had received almost 3,000 signatures as of Friday morning. McElree, who is currently on workers’ compensation leave, reportedly suffered facial and rib injuries during the protest.
Chief of Police personally assaults multiple teenagers—for peacefully protesting ICE.
Man in tan shirt caught on video putting student in a chokehold—later identified as Police Chief Scott McElree.
“This was peaceful until police put their hands on students,” said parent.… pic.twitter.com/TdJUMvanM5
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) February 21, 2026
Joseph Rittenhouse, the uncle of the young woman placed in the headlock, said that the incident has made Quakertown “national news.”
“My niece’s bloody face is one of the first things people see now when they look up Quakertown,” he said, according to ABC6. “If you’re OK with it, I don’t think any of us are gonna be OK with you sitting up there.”
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said that it is conducting an independent review of the police response.
As of publication, the five students who were arrested are on house arrest. None have been publicly named, and it is unclear whether any are minors.
“It tells them that defending themselves can ruin their lives,” said Tony Tinuta, who works in Quakertown. “It tells the public that accountability stops when someone else has a title and a badge.”
BREAKING: 5 teens arrested in PA after clashing with police at an ICE protest.
According to reports, approximately 35 students walked out of Quakertown Community High School for the protest.
Despite repeated warnings from police to remain peaceful, students began throwing… pic.twitter.com/akOq2FoYSQ
— Addison Smith (@AddisonSmithTV) February 20, 2026
The Quakertown Community School District had not issued any comments regarding this week’s board meeting. Assistant superintendent Dr. Lisa Hoffman said in a Feb. 25 letter that students had “overwhelmingly been positive” in supporting one another following the protest.
It is unclear whether the district disciplined any students who left campus to participate in the protest. The district previously said that the students “were no longer under the district’s custodial control or supervision” because they deviated from the protest’s planned route.
As with other student-led protests nationwide, the Quakertown controversy has drawn mixed reactions on social media. There is no shortage of internet users who side with the students and believe that McElree should be reprimanded if not fired. Others, though, have criticized the students for leaving campus and suggested that they brought the trouble onto themselves by protesting.
Quakertown Community School District Superintendent Matthew Friedman had already gone on leave before the incident. Friedman has not publicly commented on the situation.
