Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley called for a federal order to increase the number of security personnel in school buildings after a vicious assault of a teenage student in his state was caught on camera.
“I support doing for schools what we do for sporting events,” Hawley said. He told local station Fox 2 on Tuesday. — four days after a teenage girl was seriously injured in a fight near East Hazelwood High School.
“If it’s enough for some football games to have security, police, surveillance cameras, that’s certainly enough for our kids,” the Republican said.
Friday’s disturbance involved two teenage girls fighting, with one pushing the other to the ground and slamming him into the concrete.
The victim remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, while the 15-year-old suspect has reportedly been arrested.
“This is about protecting the kids. People have to be safe in these schools. Lo and behold, this happened in broad daylight and I think people were filming it. Thank God. , we have to do something about this,” Hawley said Tuesday.
The Hazelwood School District now has a 24-hour school safety department that is responsible for the safety of staff and students within its schools, according to the school district. Go to the school system website.
Each high school and middle school in the vast St. Louis County area has a safety officer and a safety monitor.
Hawley also echoed other elected officials in the state, calling on local authorities to “stand strong” and try the teenager arrested in the assault as an adult.
“I hope the prosecutors stand firm here and do the right thing by trying this person as an adult and protecting the kids at school,” Hawley told FOX 2. “Sometimes terrible things happen by accident. That wasn’t this. This was clearly intentional.”
According to the station, Hawley also said, “I would like to pray for the repose of the soul of the little girl who is in the hospital.”
“This video is very hard to watch. The jury needs to see it. It has to send a message. This is not fun and games. This is not a small controversy in the sports field. This is a full-scale This is a serious attack and we cannot tolerate it.”
A teenage suspect was caught on camera punching and pushing the victim down on a residential street before continuing the brutal attack. Moments later, the victim is seen lying motionless on the ground while others continue to struggle around her.
While the suspect was referred to juvenile court, juvenile court officials may attempt to pursue the juvenile as an adult. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. If a hearing is held, a judge will make a decision.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell will then take over the case.
In a social media post, Bell called the assault “disgusting” and said it was not up to his office to decide whether the boy would be charged as an adult.
