Protesters gathered outside Rhodes Middle School Wednesday to call for no police presence in the school after a San Antonio Independent School District police officer was captured on cellphone video slamming a 12-year-old girl to the ground.
The officer, Joshua Kehm, has since been fired by the district, but some in Wednesday's assembly said that wasn't enough.
"Honestly, I didn't want my son to come back, but like they told me, if I withdraw him, he isn't going to get (anywhere)," parent Cynthia Beccera said.
The protesters lined the gates outside the school with signs in hand.
"The first thing that came to my mind was that I have grandkids going to school and they're in that age barrier, and I wouldn't want my kids to be battered and beaten up like this police officer did to the kid," Poncho Mendoza said.
Other parents at the school Thursday disagreed with the protesters.
"That's why a lot of us parents are pretty upset, because we understand she's going through (something). And I feel for her, I really do, because if that was my daughter, I would be upset too, but people need to understand that we have other kids here trying to learn, trying to stay focused on school, and all this that is going on is not helping it," Belinda Rangel said.
Kehm, who plans to appeal his firing, is being represented by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT.
"They didn't do their homework and they didn't give a chance for both sides to be heard," CLEAT Executive Director Charlie Wilkinson said.
SAISD said it is considering body cameras for its officers.