Opinion ID: 6325241
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Confrontation with Montgomery

Text: On October 9, 2017, E.W. left his wallet with a teacher while he played basketball after school. After making it to the bus stop to go home, he realized he forgot the wallet. He needed his money to make it home from school. E.W. walked back to school intending to retrieve his wallet from either the teacher or the principal. He reentered the school building from the side door and was confronted by Montgomery. E.W. alleges Montgomery yelled at him to leave. E.W. didn’t tell Montgomery that he was looking for his wallet because, in his words, Montgomery was acting “hostile and angry.” R. 53-2, PageID 571. E.W. left the building on Montgomery’s command but reentered from the rear door. 1 One recording skips forward eleven seconds. E.W. alleges that the incident between E.W. and Wilkins occurred during those missing seconds. Defendants explain this anomaly as the possible result of a lack of movement in front of the motion-sensitive cameras. -2- Case No. 20-1790, E.W., et al. v. Detroit Public School District, et al. Montgomery met E.W. at the rear door. This portion of events was captured on camera. E.W. told Montgomery he needed to retrieve his wallet so that he could get home. E.W. alleges that Montgomery did not listen to him, and instead told him to leave within three seconds and began counting down. On the video, an increasingly agitated E.W. is shown speaking to Montgomery. After some dialogue, Montgomery threw down a pile of papers he was holding and got in E.W.’s face. When E.W. still did not leave, Montgomery grabbed E.W. and pushed him through the school doors. As the video shows, Montgomery pushed E.W. out of the building, pushing E.W. back on his heels through two sets of doors. Outdoors, E.W. contends that Montgomery slammed E.W. to the pavement. Montgomery then held his knee on E.W.’s chest for around five seconds. Montgomery then got off of E.W. and went back inside. Montgomery’s account of the events differs somewhat from E.W.’s. Montgomery claims that he told E.W. specifically upon E.W.’s first entry through the side door that he needed to reenter through the student entrance at the front door and go through the metal detectors per school policy. Montgomery claims he told E.W. to leave because he was in the building illegally. When E.W. didn’t leave, he “escorted” E.W. out of the building. R. 53-3, PageID 642. Montgomery testified that he did not slam E.W. but that both fell to the ground together “[a]s a result of our tussle.” Id. at PageID 643. He also claims that he pinned E.W. to the ground with his knee in an effort to restrain him. Montgomery then walked back into the building to his office, stating a need to “separate” from the situation. Wilkins also testified to Montgomery’s interactions and the immediate aftermath. He had witnessed Montgomery confront E.W. when E.W. first entered the building, and heard E.W. swear at Montgomery. Later, Wilkins heard Montgomery yelling and counting down from three, and witnessed Montgomery push E.W. out of the building. Wilkins testified that he did not see E.W. -3- Case No. 20-1790, E.W., et al. v. Detroit Public School District, et al. try to assault or injure Montgomery. Wilkins testified that he walked towards the rear door and saw a Securitas private security officer picking up E.W. and trying to calm E.W. down. E.W. was, at this point, cursing and ranting, while Montgomery walked back inside.