An adult man landed himself behind bars for after attacking high school students during a recent anti-ICE demonstration in Buda, Texas.
As reported by local news outlet KWTX 10, 45-year-old Chad Michael Watts was arrested and charged on two accounts of assault after brawling with students who were participating in a walkout in protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a viral video from the incident, which occurred on Tuesday (Feb. 3) around 3:00 p.m., Watts grappled on the ground with a group of students at Moe and Gene Johnson High School. Among the students was a teen girl, whom Watts shoved while her friends tried to pull the man off.
Watts then turned his attention to a male student, whom he tried to tackle before the group dragged him away. The man retreated to his vehicle, with the group following and pelting water bottles toward him.
Watts and an unnamed girl denied medical aid at the scene, and although police allowed the man to leave, he was arrested the following day and charged with two counts of assault causing bodily injury.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra saying than an adult “bears a clear responsibility to exercise restraint.”
“Violence or intimidation directed at a minor—particularly during a lawful, peaceful demonstration—has no place in a constitutional republic that depends on the rule of law rather than force,” the judge continued.
The school district has since cracked down on walkouts, with Hays Consolidated School District Superintendent Eric Wright stating that the events “would not be productive and only hurt our students’ self-interests.”
The government agency has escalated violence against immigrants and American citizens nationwide in recent months, leading to protests and strikes across the country.
