RALLY PROTESTS SECURITY GUARD ACTS TUSSLE OVER CAKE INJURES TWO STUDENTS.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- Carrying signs and chanting, about 60 people protested in front of Knight High School on Friday over the arrests of three students and a parent after a scuffle with school security officers over a spilled birthday cake.

One security guard twisted the arm of 16-year-old Pleajhai Mervin behind her back and slammed her against a lunch table, fracturing her wrist, parents said.

"I want justice," said Mervin's mother, Latrisha Majors, who also was arrested. "I want justice for my daughter. I want the guards to be held accountable for their actions."

Majors and her daughter were arrested in the Sept. 18 lunchtime incident, along with Joshua Lockett, 14, who videotaped the fight, and his sister, Kenngela Lockett, 16, who also suffered a fractured wrist.

Both Mervin and Kenngela Lockett attended the protest with their arms in slings.

Joshua Lockett, who was on probation for robbery, remained in juvenile custody on suspicion of violating his probation, sheriff's deputies said.

"We come to get an education, not to be hurt by security guards," said Kenngela, who said she tried to pull guards off her brother and was hurt while being handcuffed.

One guard, whose name has not been publicly released, has been placed on leave with pay pending an investigation by the Antelope Valley Union High School District. Attempts to reach the guard were not successful.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies said the guard told them he felt threatened by Mervin.

"There was resistance by her," Sgt. Darrel Brown said. "He went to control her."

Brown was one of eight additional deputies who were at the school to monitor the protest.

Najee Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope, organized the protest and referred to the four arrested as the Palmdale Four, linking them to the so-called Jena Six beating case in Louisiana, where the arrest of six African-American students sparked a national debate about racism.

"Children are being beaten and brutalized. Black students are being victimized," Ali said.

"Today we say, 'Enough is enough."'

The protesters demanded that all charges against the four be dropped, that the security guard be fired, that the U.S. Justice Department launch an inquiry, and that Majors be reinstated to her job as a special-education instructional assistant in the Palmdale School District.

After her arrest, Majors, a single mother with three children, was suspended without pay pending the outcome of her criminal case.

The incident reportedly started when Mervin was walking to a trash can to throw away the cake that a friend had brought to school to celebrate her birthday.

Someone bumped into her and the cake fell, prompting the guard to tell her to pick it up, Majors said. Eventually, the guard grabbed her by the arm and slammed her onto a table, according to a cell-phone video of the incident.

The guard also is accused of tackling Joshua Lockett to stop him from videotaping the incident, Ali said.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com