Lawsuit Filed Against Knox County Sheriff’s Dept After Arrest, Detainment Of Middle School Child
A Lawsuit Has Been Filed In Knox County Against The Knox County Sheriff’s Department After Arrest Of A Middle School Child, Who Was Allegedly Kept Handcuffed For Hours In A Police Car.
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
The parents of a student who attends Farragut Middle School are suing Knox County for civil rights violations against their child who was arrested for making offhand comments to a group of other boys.
According to reports, the comments that were made were about “stealing a plane and crashing it into the school”.
According to the lawsuit filed in September, a teacher overheard the comments where the 12-13 year-old kids were engaging in a game of verbal one up-man ship, and turned in one of the students who was called to the principal’s office.
In the presence of a Knox County Sheriff’s deputy, the child was interrogated, and their backpack searched. The deputy removed his body cam before the search was conducted reports indicate.
When the boy realized he was being interrogated, he refused to answer any more of the principal or the Sheriff’s deputy’s questions. It was at this point that a call was made to the child’s father who was instructed by the principal to compel his child to answer the questions the child was being asked. The father of the child told the deputy and the principal that he would not allow his son to answer any questions without an attorney or himself present.
The deputy then informed the father that if the child did not answer the questions, the child would be handcuffed and arrested and removed from the school to a detention center, according to the lawsuit.
The father asked where he would be able to find his son and was told he would be found at the Juvenile Detention Center, which is where the father went to receive custody of his son.
What the father wasn’t told, was the deputy then perp walked his child out of the school, handcuffed, and proceeded to detain the child in the backseat of his patrol car for hours, in front of the school.
The child was kept there without being given access to a phone call to speak to his parents to tell them where he was, and never told why he was being kept there instead of being transported to the Juvenile Detention Center where his father had been told he would be.
Hours later, a transport van received custody of the minor, who was still handcuffed and was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center. The report mentions that the child was transported along with two adult detainees being delivered to the county jail. While the child was separated from the adult detainees by a partition, the fact remains that the child shared a small space for several minutes with strangers who may have committed dangerous felonies.
Due to the lateness of the hour when the boy was delivered to the Juvenile facility, the courts and offices were preparing to close, and there were no judges available for arraignment. Being that this occurred on a Friday, the boy was held for the entire weekend, 72 hours without access to his parents, an attorney or any explanation for why he was being detained the entire weekend.
In the lawsuit, the parents allege that the delay to transport the child where the father had been told his son would be, was intentional in order to ensure the boy would be locked up for the entire weekend.
Also in the lawsuit, the attorney for the boy’s parents writes, “The wholly unreasonable delay … was either an intentional act designed to prevent (the) minor from being arraigned on the date of his arrest or was a negligent act of laziness in ensuring the wellbeing of the detainee”.
The family of the child is asking for compensatory and punitive damages for violations of the child’s rights of due process, and against unreasonable seizure.
It’s important to note that many reports at the time of the incident, portrayed the comments made by the middle schooler as “threats of mass violence” without adding any context to ensure people understood there was no attempted event that even closely resembled the events at The Covenant School or any other event of the sort.
We will continue to follow the story as it develops.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
More evidence that too many people have chosen a career in “education” and law enforcement to satisfy their desire to impose their dimmo-maoist ideology on freedom-loving Americans. Those dimmo-maoists are very, very intent on inciting violence.
Good article, but probably best a writer not emphasize coming from California, a place of which Tennesseans are rightly and wisely suspicious, that place historically known as “the land of fruits and nuts”.
I vehemently disagree, as a fellow escapee/refugee of Commiefornia, that designation has no bearing on the facts of the article or the opinion of the author. BTW, zero opinion from the author. Perhaps, you missed the “About the Author” section at the end of the article where Kelly brings her receipts? Apparently, you stopped at “… a California refugee to Tennessee.”
I’m not a betting man, but, I’d lay odds and good money that Kelly and I are just as, if not far more conservative than you. We know what we have to lose. I already lost a life long home and an entire state.
I moved to Tennessee to be with like-minded people. So my voice (vote) can be heard and not be drowned out by the cacophony of idiots that refuse to accept reality. I’ve moved here to take a stand and do my best to make sure what’s happened in CA…DOES NOT HAPPEN HERE.
Perhaps an apology to the author would be appropriate. As well as a, “Welcome to the fight!”
Don’t California my Tennessee! It’s more than a bumper sticker.
Because Knoxville just had a loss of an officer killed on duty, I won’t comment on law enforcement.
W. Walker— I admire your spirit. The first Tennessee migration was people wearing Trump T-shirts .. I just need to inform you of some Knox county facts— which this publication should know and condemn:
The county government rejected Republican voices, citizens, concerning their community, as well as sliding past Republican-inspired zoning/ guides, to bring as many people here as possible. This was legacy- building by elected officials..
And then! The Knoxville Focus, July 3, reported Glenn Jacobs went to Republican clubs, to spread fear of the very people he brought here..
W.—the Republicans will tell you how to vote, even after your spirited reply on this site.
Bingo!
This is the second or third time we’ve heard things about the Knox County Sheriff’s office doing stuff like this. Last time I heard an incident like this I called the sheriff’s Association to ask what is going on in that office. Being that we are members of the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association we don’t want abusive law enforcement here. And don’t take me wrong, as former USMC I am all about discipline when somebody does something wrong they should immediately be disciplined for it. We don’t know exactly what happened here but it sounds like they went too far with this situation.
It sounds like the Principal and the officer were on power trips. Hope it costs them plenty. We could start with both of them losing their jobs, any pensions they might have accrued and lose the privilege of working in education or law enforcement in the state of Tn.
Exactly!
I would ask that all people making a judgement of this incident regarding the Principal and Law Enforcement Officer’s alleged actions stated in this article, please remember that we are only seeing information supplied from one side. I am not saying that the allegations are lies, but who knows at this point, they just might be! There is a lot more information out there that we need to see/hear before we should be jumping to judgment! If the LEO and Principal did in fact do all that is alleged, then shame on them and I hope they deal with them harshly.
I agree with Mr. Brian’s comments and invite all readers to withhold judgment until all sides are heard. I’d be shocked to discover that the principal of Farragut Middle School participated in and approved of the sequence of events as laid out in the article. I’m sure that at a certain point—probably as soon as LEOs got involved—the principal no longer had any say in all that happened subsequently. Knox County Schools has clear protocols that principals are required to follow. Once law enforcement is called in they handle everything from that point forward.
I could be wrong but until all the facts have been presented let’s wait to express anger.
(And yes, if I were the parent I’d probably have felt wild with fear and outrage on that day, not being able to find my child, not knowing what was going on—I’m not glossing over that.)
Moral of the story is to never threaten mass violence on Fridays??
Maybe show some measure of respect to authority figures when you are placed under arrest?
Maybe not make threats to anyone?
Where does it say in the article that someone under arrest did not show respect to an authority figure?
LE can not interview a child that is 13 where there may be charges brought against them without a parent present giving consent for their child to be interviewed (IF what’s being reported is true). However, I refer back to my initial question- where does it say that someone was arrested was not respectful of an authority figure?
Thanks for the “advice “, bootlicker…
Why call names and show such disrespect for others opinions? Everyone with an opinion should be allowed to voice it without the name calling.