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player ready...Rev. Jesse Jackson on Tuesday finally made good on his vow to get arrested in his fight to return seven expelled students to class.
In a scene of controlled chaos, he, several aides and members of the students’ families pressed against the flanks of police officers. Meanwhile, about 16 police officers linked arms and pushed against a crush of would-be arrestees, cameramen and reporters. Police dutifully led away Jackson and a handful of others, including one man who laid down in front of a police vehicle. The students were not arrested because they did not challenge authorities.
“My message is, `Keep hope alive, reclaim the children,’ ” Jackson said as a Decatur police commander lowered the civil rights leader’s head into the back of a squad car. Eliciting chants from some the hundreds who had gathered to watch the spectacle, Jackson yelled, “Save the children.”
Then, more Jackson supporters attempted to get arrested. “Keep your hands up and do not resist,” one organizer yelled to them as ministers and mothers dropped to the grass and awaited arrest. But with a crowd screaming support, the officers chose not take anyone else in.
Jackson’s arrest came two months after seven students were involved in a fist fight at a Eisenhower High School football game that resulted in expulsions and divided this central Illinois factory town.
The scene Tuesday began shortly after 1 p.m., when Jackson plowed through a swarm of television cameras and reporters at Eisenhower High School, leading the students and their families up against a line of police that created a human perimeter around the school.
The afternoon confrontation with police came an hour after negotiations between Jackson and school officials broke down over one major sticking point: whether the students will be out for the remainder of the school year or will have an opportunity to return in January.
The school board has scheduled an emergency meeting for 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Under a proposal offered by state schools’ Supt. Glenn “Max” McGee, the students would have the chance to return to school next semester if they were to abide by several stipulations, including maintaining good attendance, decorum and a C-average in alternative school classes for the rest of the year.