The ACLU of Nevada is considering filing a civil suit against the Clark County School District (CCSD) over a February incident in which a school police officer used force against Durango High School students. 

The potential litigation comes as the ACLU of Nevada has been pushing for months for the district to release body camera footage and other records around the incident. In April, the organization filed a writ of mandamus to try getting the court to compel the district to release those records. But the district has argued that the ACLU of Nevada’s request is “overly burdensome”. 

During a press conference before a Tuesday hearing in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Las Vegas, ACLU of Nevada Executive Director Athar Haseebullah argued that School Police Chief Mike Blackeye spoke publicly about the incident even while the investigation was ongoing. He said if his organization is unable to get the records into the incident through the writ of mandamus, it will have to get them by filing a civil suit. 

“Depending on how this comes back, that might, in fact, be the only way to move forward,” he said. “So what in effect the district is saying is unless you're seeking money from us, there's no way we're turning over records, which it just doesn't make any sense.”

A video from the February incident near Durango High School shows a police officer pushing a Black student to the ground, and pin the student down by placing a knee behind the student’s back. The district has said police officers were in the area investigating a reported firearm. The district has not disclosed whether the students seen in the video were connected with the reported firearm. 

Kash Williams, a Black student at Cheyenne High School, spoke out against the district during the press conference. 

“Justice needs to be served and the video cam footage needs to be released,” she said. 

During a Tuesday court hearing, attorney Jackie Nichols, who’s representing the district, said it denied the ACLU of Nevada’s public records requests while the investigation into the incident was ongoing, and argued that the Nevada Public Records Act (NPRA) doesn’t require a government agency to keep a request open after it’s been denied. 

Nichols also argued that some of the records contain sensitive information on juveniles that is “so inextricably commingled” that it cannot be redacted.

The investigation into the incident concluded in April, and last month the district said the school police officer involved was not fired and the district will not change its use-of-force policy. 

Haseebullah said neither the students nor their parents were interviewed by the district as part of the investigation. Williams raised concerns about the district’s decision to keep the officer on staff. 

“It shows how CCSD doesn't care and it shows that they view students as such a threat that they put police officers in our schools that hurt children,” she said. “As a student returning back to a CCSD high school this fall, I'm scared. I don't know if that will one day be me or another one of my peers that I'm close to.”

Judge Danielle “Pierper” Chio did not immediately rule on the matter, but ordered a review of the juvenile records. More arguments on the case are expected to be scheduled for the end of August.