VICTOR JOECKS: Body camera footage undercuts ACLU’s claims in Durango High School incident

The ACLU’s narrative around Clark County School District police officers is false, shameful and dangerous.

The Clark County School District recently released body camera footage from a February 2023 incident outside Durango High School. A video showed a district police officer, identified as Lt. Jason Elfberg, attempting to restrain a male student. The student resisted arrest, and Elfberg took him down, putting his knee on his back.

You can guess why this became a news story. The student is Black, and Elfberg is white. There remains zero evidence of racial animus, but leftists rarely let facts get in the way of their agenda.

The district should have quickly released the footage. Instead, the ACLU had to sue. The ACLU was right to do so and eventually won. But the body camera film shows the ACLU is spinning a web of deceit.

“Recording police interactions is lawful, but apparently, CCSD doesn’t train their officers to understand the basic tenets of the First and Fourth amendments,” Athar Haseebullah, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, tweeted.

But officers weren’t upset about students filming. “I don’t mind if you record, dude,” an unidentified officer told one student. “What I mind is everybody inching up on us.” The videos don’t identify officers by name. He continues, “I’m actually here for your safety.”

The whole thing started because officers were concerned about a potential fight at a nearby Jack in the Box. Thanks to the police presence, the fight didn’t happen. But fights the police don’t prevent can be deadly. Recall the beating death of Jonathan Lewis Jr., a 17-year-old student at Rancho High School.

ACLU of Nevada legal director Chris Peterson said it was “admirable” that “students here bravely stood their ground on a public sidewalk.” He continued, “If those people had walked on, there would be no accountability.”

What garbage. If the students had walked on and recorded from a distance, there would have been no incident. The young man in the video came within inches of Elfberg as he had another student in handcuffs. Interfering with police work is illegal.

When discussing the incident with the student, Elfberg said, “Bro, it’s on bodycam.” He asked the student, “Did you allow me to put you in handcuffs or did you pull your arms away?” The student replies, “I pulled my arms away.” The supposed victim admitted to resisting arrest.

The ACLU also attacked Elfberg for pulling out pepper spray when he had that student on the ground.

The other officers’ behavior indicated that “the other students that were present were not acting inappropriately, so there was no reason for pepper spray to be pulled out,” Peterson claimed.

But Elfberg’s body camera showed that a young man in a Champion sweatshirt pushed Elfberg and challenged him verbally. Only then did Elfberg pull out the pepper spray.

I asked the ACLU questions about its claims. A spokesman sent over previously distributed statements but refused to answer further.

There are real-world consequences for the ACLU’s falsehoods. It makes the incidents it claims to be upset about more likely. People who trust the police will move back in a situation such as this. People who distrust the police, perhaps believing the ACLU’s insinuation that police are racist, will be more likely to crowd around and physically fight back. Obstructing the police is illegal, and it’s dangerous. An agitated crowd can easily overwhelm a few officers. It could have in this case. It’s why Elfberg and the other officers had to establish control.

The body camera footage vindicates Elfberg and district police. The ACLU should apologize for unjustly smearing them.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.