Posted on May 12, 2016

Mexican-American Actor Danny Trejo Speaks Out at LA School Where Massive Lunchtime Brawl Broke Out

Alexandra Klausner, Daily Mail, May 11, 2016

Mexican-American Actor Danny Trejo attended a safety meeting at a California high school on Wednesday night two days after a massive melee broke out over what may have been a race related issue.

While some at the Sylmar High School safety meeting in the San Fernando Valley argued hat tensions between black and Hispanic students had nothing to do with the brawl, Trejo apparently disagreed.

‘There IS a race problem. Your heads are in the sand,’ Trejo said at the meeting, according to Beverly White of NBCLA who tweeted a photo of the actor as he spoke with passion.

Trejo has two children thought they are not students at the school. He decided to attend the meeting because he is a member of the community, according to Fox 11.

Trejo has starred in several films and television shows and is most recognized as the character Machete, originally made for the Spy Kids series of movies. The role was later expanded into Trejo’s own series of films.

The Sylmar High Newz, a Twitter page dedicated to keeping students updated about campus activity ,thanked Trejo for taking part in the discussion about Monday’s melee.

Trejo urged students at the school to speak at the meeting and several stood up to talk about how much they love their school and how they were disappointed about the amount of negative media attention the school was getting.

One student told Fox 11 that she thinks the fight was gang related and said that students at the school have gang affiliations but added that she doesn’t think the issue was about race.

The mass brawl involving about 40 people broke out on the campus of a Los Angeles high school, in a fight that officials believe was started at prom over the weekend.

A team of 12 officers and a supervisor dispatched by LA Unified School Police tried to break up the brawl as it happened.

According to reports, the fight lasted for 20 minutes, with numerous videos taken at the scene since uploaded to YouTube.

Witnesses said everyone walked away and that no one was taken to hospital, but several students were bloodied and bruised with black eyes.

KTLA 5 News reported that the reason behind the brawl was race and gang-related.

It is said that tensions flared between some black and Hispanic students at the prom at the weekend, and that school officials were worried the problem would come to a head Monday.

The videos show punches and kicks being through around, as other students fled for cover.

Officers can be seen jumping in to break up the fights, as others begin happening around them.

‘It was just uncontrollable,’ said one student,
The principal sent out a letter to parents Monday to inform them of the fight and that students involved are receiving disciplinary actions. But there were no known arrests.

James Lee, the school’s principal, said in a statement to parents that ‘multiple students participated in a conflict during lunch on campus’.

According to Lee, ‘disciplinary actions have been taken’ and the parents of the students have been contacted.