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School peace talks called after BLM controversy erupts at Todd Beamer HS

Federal Way's school superintendent called for school peace talks after controversies involving a student arrest and students divided over the Black Lives Matter movement.

The optional small-group discussions are called Titan Talks, after the school mascot, and will continue Friday. Here's a break down of what led to the talks.

Where does the tension come from?

Tensions surrounded a Black Lives Matter event, organized by the school's Black Student Union, last week.

Students were encouraged to wear all black clothing for a day to support the student movement -- which may have been inspired by the arrest of a black student who police say resisted arrest after a fight in front of dozens of other students.

What led to the arrest?

“A girl was arrested during a fight," freshman Ellie Mae Hanie told KIRO 7 News.

Federal Way police confirm that a female student resisted being restrained by a school resource officer -- who is also a Federal Way police officer.

According to a statement from Federal Way police, the student "resisted the school resource officer by kicking and swinging."

Students who witnessed the incident say the student, who is black, punched the officer, who is white, in the head during the arrest.

Since the incident, the Federal Way School District asked Federal Way police to reassign the officer out of the school, citing "compatibility issues."

A Federal Way police spokesperson told KIRO 7 the officer did nothing wrong.

After the arrest, Hanie said one of her teachers spent the next two periods talking about the arrest, and the Black Lives Matter movement. "In both of those periods, back to back, we sat there for four hours and only talked about why black lives matter," Hanie said.

Was the BLM event planned because of the arrest? 

On Thursday, Cedric Dennard of the school's Black Student Union said the Black Lives Matter event had been planned long before.

"It had nothing to do with the girl who was arrested. It was the Black Lives Matter movement in general that we were trying to represent," Dennard said.

What happened during the Black Lives Matter event?

Angela Wilcox told KIRO 7 that Hanie, her daughter, was confronted by at least 50 students screaming threats after she made public comments Tuesday night to the school board about why she opted not to wear all black to school to support the movement.

"I was ridiculed from many people who I'm assuming really didn't know what they were talking about," said Hanie.

Hanie said she had to be removed from the angry mob by a school security officer, who advised her mother to keep her away from school.

"He basically told me 'this might blow over in a couple days, you might just want to keep her out of school for a couple days.' I just knew I needed to get my daughter off the campus."

What are school officials saying about the incident?

Federal Way school district spokeswoman Kassie Swenson told KIRO 7 the awareness event was not school-sponsored

Dr. Tammy Campbell told KIRO 7 the incident is under investigation, and she urged Hanie to return. "It's of the utmost importance that she feel safe at school," Campbell said.

She also reiterated the importance of reaching understanding among students to ease tensions.

"In the world of work, I have to work, I work alongside people I don't agree with, but I have to find common ground," Campbell said. "I think this is a perfect type of career skill we want our scholars to have as they go out in the workplace. I see this as a learning opportunity for our scholars and for our staff to say, 'We remember when we had that hard conversation? We're closer, we're better, we're more connected because of it.' And I think that's what's going to come out of this."

Have teachers encouraged this?

Some students told KIRO 7 some Todd Beamer teachers encouraged students to wear black. They say they were called racists and ridiculed when they chose not to participate.

Teachers, students and parents across Seattle public schools wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts Wednesday to promote racial equity in schools last week. However, that event does not appear to be related to Todd Beamer’s event.

So what are the talks, again? 

The optional small-group discussions are called Titan Talks, after the school mascot, and will continue Friday.

Students who planned to attend a Titan Talk said they were hopeful the discussion would be productive.

"I don't know if it will help, but I hope it does for everyone to come together and voice their opinions because a lot of people weren't being heard," said student Selena Reed.

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