Dozens of Martin Luther King Jr. Early College students walk out of class to protest violence in Denver schools
Dozens of students walked out of Martin Luther King Jr. Early College school Tuesday morning, protesting violence and Denver Public School district policies. The "DPS Do Better Walkout" was organized after a reported assault at the school last week.
"It made my heart hurt," said junior Anika Smith. "Just, like, seeing him get jumped like that for no reason and then to know they had the wrong person is just hurtful."
Smith witnessed the alleged assault last Wednesday where she said a male student was attacked by four other students, most of which were from another school. She told CBS News Colorado the attackers were there to fight a different student.
"Nobody was really there to help him out," she said. "It was horrible. He's pretty shaken up, but he was okay… but no one is really ever okay from that."
DPS confirmed a campus resource officer was at the school, but students who saw the fight said the officer didn't step in because she was trying to call for help.
"She did what she could," said Journey Horton, a junior at the school. "She was the only [officer] out there. She tried to call for backup, but no one else was able to come. She did what she could, but there were four boys, and there's only so much she can do."
The fight is the latest act of violence at DPS schools prompting students to walk out of class. On top of what they called inadequate safety policies, especially those pertaining to students with violent behavior, students said DPS doesn't offer enough support.
"The district has to do something about it," said freshman Oscar Lupian, "not just standing around and suspending them for a couple of days and coming back to school."
While some students believe having more school resource officers or law enforcement on campus could help stop fights, most would rather see the district provide them with consistent mental and emotional resources.
"As high school students, teenagers, we don't have enough emotional support at school as we should," said Horton. "They need to do mental support, mental health check-ins, make sure people are ok. Make sure we feel good, make sure we're safe."
DPS declined an interview, but a district spokesperson shared this statement with CBS News Colorado: Denver Public Schools is committed to ensuring that our students have a safe environment from which to learn every day. Our strategic roadmap issues a call to action to our students to fully engage in their educational experience and voice their concerns as they arise. While it is hard to hear that some of our students don't feel safe, it is vital that we honor their voices, and learn more about their concerns.
Denver police confirmed the reported assault is under investigation, but could not release any details because those involved are juveniles.
