How do you mend a community’s broken heart?
In the wake of a violent confrontation between local police and Quakertown Community High School students protesters on its streets earlier this year, two listening circles will be held this month, facilitated by The Peace Center and the NAACP Bucks County.
The events are part of a 45-day reflection and response period specified in the Bucks County District Attorney’s investigative report released Aug. 3. The sessions are not mandated by the DA’s office.
“The goal of listening circles is to create space for shared emotional connection about the impact of the Quakertown conflict,” said a program events flier released by The Peace Center, a nonprofit Langhorne-based organization committed to conflict resolution, education and violence prevention.
Listening circles will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 20 and another date during the month. The Aug. 20 event will be held at the Quakertown United Methodist Church, 1875 Freier Road, Quakertown (Milford Township). Registration is requested; event is free.
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A listening circle scheduled at the church for this evening was postponed, according to Barbara Simmons, executive director, mediator and educator at The Peace Center.
Community members are encouraged to register on The Peace Center’s website.
On Feb. 20 after their approved school campus protest against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) behaviors and tactics had been cancelled, hours before it was to go ahead, students left the school grounds to protest.
Parents, students and community members spoke at a Feb. 26 Quakertown Community School District school board meeting, where they expressed shock and outrage at the fracas that ensued during the student walk out.
ABC news reported Friday that area civil rights leaders criticized the district attorney’s decision not to charge Scott McElree, Quakertown police chief and borough manager, over his response to student protestors on Feb. 20.
“The DA’s office wants to hear from the community, so they will participate in the listening circles,” Simmons explained.
She said the goal is for community members to honestly share how this conflict has impacted them along with what steps need to be taken to heal and best serve the community moving forward.
“What kind of community do they want to build in the midst of this division,” Simmons said.
From the DA’s published report and available on Crimewatch:
“The events of Feb. 20 caused severe trauma within the Quakertown community, straining relations between residents, youth, and local law enforcement, particularly among racial and ethnic minority families in Upper Bucks who felt uniquely vulnerable in the aftermath. For these reasons, District Attorney Joe Khan has accepted the report’s recommendation that the District Attorney’s Office work to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the people we serve. Over the next 45 days, District Attorney Khan and members of the office will engage in conversations with the Quakertown community. At the end of this period, the office will release additional recommendations about how to move forward to help heal these rifts.”
The report went on to acknowledge “young people witnessed their immigrant neighbors living in fear” and said Bucks County students “raised their voices and spoke up about the grievous injustices they saw.”
In Quakertown on Feb. 20 as some students “broke the law and the police chief made terrible mistakes even while other officers responded using professionalism and restraint,” the report said.
In February, five Quakertown high school students were arrested. McElree’s involvement has caused widespread community outrage, though he is not without his supporters.
