A Tennessee high school graduate threw his diploma at another student as he was removed from a ceremony for displaying gang signs, sparking a fight on stage.
The brawl between two Hamilton High School graduates was caught on camera Thursday night during a peer celebration inside the Cannon Center in Memphis, Tennessee.
The incident stemmed from a previous incident with two students, which began when the instigator was seen throwing a gang sign at another student. According to WREG.
The security guard noticed the student’s hand gestures and immediately removed him from his seat.
As the unruly graduate was escorted off stage, he threw his graduation binder at the unsuspecting victim.
Security immediately grabbed the person who appeared to have thrown it and dragged him off the stage. The student who was hit jumped across three rows of seats to chase after his assailant.
Several security guards rushed onto the stage to try to stop the scuffle, and two other students also joined in on the chaotic situation.
When the security guard tried to restrain the students, one of the students pepper sprayed him.
The ceremony was interrupted for a few minutes, and then the entrance ceremony resumed.
“We’re not going to stop graduating. We’re going to keep going because this is the Wildcat way,” one of the speakers said over the sound system.
The fight didn’t sit well with several parents, who criticized their students’ behavior during this important moment.
“How do you fight at graduation? Why are you all fighting when it’s a time of celebration? Why are you angry?” Quita White, whose son graduated, told WREG.
All involved were given juvenile citations or misdemeanor charges and released to their parents, the report said.
One police officer was injured during the scuffle.
“He had a big bruise on his left eye, his glasses were broken and the front of his leg appeared to be fractured,” said the injured worker’s wife.
The unidentified woman accused the principal of ruining other students’ special day.
“We knew this was the end of the school year and the kids were fighting to get each other,” she said. “Now they weren’t in school. But they gave him a package. “You guys can walk over,” said the furious woman.
The victim’s wife believes the two students should never have attended the ceremony in the first place.
“Memphis has a big problem. It’s a real problem with young people,” White said.
The remaining students, whose names have not yet been called, had a chance to take the stage after the fighting subsided and the suspect was taken into custody.
