Violent Brawl Among MoCo Students After Game Leads To New Safety Plans

BETHESDA, MD — Montgomery County officials said no student has been charged criminally yet in connection with a brawl that broke out among students in Bethesda last Friday night after a football game between Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High Schools.

Monifa McKnight, superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, and Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said in a joint letter to county residents on Wednesday that available evidence has been reviewed, including videos of teens fighting.

“We can confirm at this time that appropriate disciplinary action has been applied in alignment with the MCPS Student Code of Conduct,” McKnight and Jones said. “However, no students have been charged criminally, although the criminal investigation is ongoing.”

After the Sept. 1 game between rivals Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson high schools, a brawl took place near the Bethesda Metro Station. Young people could be seen in videos punching, pushing and stomping on one another.

Police officers also were dispatched to multiple calls for thefts, robberies and assaults throughout Bethesda’s central business district after the Sept. 1 game. A video of the fight, which officials said resulted in several students being injured, was shared on social media.

In their letter, McKnight and Jones acknowledged that multiple students sustained injuries during the altercation near the Bethesda Metro Station.

After the brawl, Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County police immediately began working together to determine what occurred after the game in Bethesda and to ensure that students involved will be held accountable, according to the letter.

A memorandum of understanding between Montgomery County Public Schools and the police “specifically outlines what actions may be addressed through school-based discipline and what is considered criminal activity,” they wrote.

Prior to the fall athletic season, MCPD and MCPS held a meeting to discuss safety plans for each football game. The officials said they are now asking themselves, “How do we extend safety beyond the school campus?”

“This poses challenges but we are exploring a number of options along with our county security and police partners,” McKnight and Jones said. “Essentially, this involves monitoring by placing MCPS staff in key areas of our community following football games and messaging to our students that we and the community are watching.”

In the coming weeks, students can expect to see Montgomery County police officers in specific areas of concern, such as areas where students may gather after games.

Effective this week, all varsity football games will be limited to 75 percent of stadium capacity to assist with event management.

The incident on Sept. 1 came nearly a year after Montgomery County Public Schools announced new safety protocols for athletics events, following an on-field brawl that broke out between Northwest and Gaithersburg high schools at a 2022 football game.

Under the new restrictions, the audience of Friday’s game at Bethesda-Chevy Chase was limited to students of both schools, with other school-aged children requiring chaperones. But the restrictions did not take into consideration possible violence that may follow a game beyond school property.

“This incident must serve as a teachable moment for our entire community. We must collectively reinforce the values of respect, tolerance, and resolving conflict through peaceful means,” McKnight and Jones said. “We encourage parents and guardians to have conversations with their children about the inappropriate choice of violence and fighting, as well as the possible consequences.”