A high school student is facing several charges after allegedly attacking police amid anti-ICE walkouts Wednesday afternoon.
Hundreds of students peacefully participated in the planned walkouts at Arlington middle and high schools, protesting immigration enforcement and violence by federal agents.
Amid the event at Arlington Tech, however, a call for backup went out from an officer who was monitoring the protest from his cruiser at the intersection of S. Highland Street and Columbia Pike.
“I’ve got someone hitting my car,” the officer said on the police dispatch channel. “Now he’s in front of my cruiser laying down.”
Numerous officers rushed to assist and ended up taking the suspect into custody. He was later identified as a 18-year-old who, we’re told, formerly attended the STEM-focused option school.
More on the incident, below, from the latest Arlington County Police Department crime report.
ASSAULT ON POLICE, 2026-02180102, 3100 block of Columbia Pike. At approximately 2:02 p.m. on February 18, an officer was inside his parked police vehicle in a parking lot when the male suspect approached his driver’s side and began striking the window before attempting to open the vehicle’s door. The suspect then went to the front of the vehicle and bent the license plate causing damage. With the assistance of an additional responding officer, the suspect was taken into custody following a brief struggle. While in custody, he kicked an officer several times. [The suspect], 18, of Arlington, VA was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery on Police, Attempted Assault and Battery on a Police and Destruction of Property.
Video of the incident, shared with ARLnow by witnesses, showed the suspect yelling obscenities while being arrested and later carried to a waiting cruiser with shackles on his legs and a spit hood on his head.
“F— the police,” the suspect is heard saying. “F—ing pig… oink oink bitch.”
ACPD spokeswoman Ashley Savage tells ARLnow that the officer was in the area primarily for traffic control purposes. She also noted that while the suspect was not charged with spitting on an officer, the spit hood was used during the arrest as a safety precaution.
“With an increase in pedestrian traffic related to the planned walkout, the officer was in the area to ensure transportation safety,” Savage said. “The suspect displayed aggressive and erratic behavior during the incident and was placed in leg restraints and a spit hood to ensure the safety of everyone on scene, including the suspect, community members and officers.”
