March 16, 2022 3:45p
(WGTD)---The father of the 12-year-old girl who was held to the floor of the Lincoln Middle School cafeteria by a part-time security officer using a knee-to-the-neck spoke to reporters Wednesday.
Jerrel Perez said he’s speaking out because he doesn’t want the same thing happening to anyone else’s child.
Parts of the incident were captured by other students on their cell phones and posted to social media. DeVinney said he has reviewed three such videos.
Perez said his daughter still hasn’t returned to school, and is undergoing therapy and needs to see a neurologist. "She's humiliated. She's traumatized," he said. "Everyday I have to hear 'Daddy I don't want to go to school.'
Perez’ attorney, Drew DeVinney, said the girl was not the aggressor in a fight that the off-duty officer was trying to break up, something DeVinney believes will be confirmed by the school’s own security cameras.
DeVinney said in his opinion the off-duty police officer should face charges. "He held her face against the floor. He positioned himself behind her, lifted his right leg and pressed his knee down into the back of her neck. This mirrored the same manner that Derrick Chauvin used to murder George Floyd," DeVinney said. "The officer continued to push his knee into Jerrel's daughter's neck as she told him she couldn't breathe."
Representatives of several racial equity groups also spoke at the news conference, held in the parking lot of KUSD’s Educational Support Center.
They’re demanding that the school district fire the officer involved, release its security camera video and make sure all of the officers who work in the schools have de-escalation training. They’re also requesting that the police department’s referral of charges against the girl be dropped by the D-A.
The incident remains under investigation.
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