The children eventually toppled the wall.
Moments later, however, police shot tear-gas canisters into the crowd, sending the children scrambling. Local TV footage showed children writhing in pain, screaming and choking because of the tear gas. One child cried as a man poured water into his eyes while another child was carried away from the scene.
“We pushed down the wall and accessed the playground … our aim was to play but we played with teargas,” said Holy Dave, founder of an education nonprofit who was with the students at the site in an Instagram post.
“The police moved in and lobbed teargas at the students, but one part of the wall has been demolished,” one witness at the scene told Kenya’s Capital TV.
Police officers later brought dogs to the playground, hoping to clear the site of any remaining children.
Kenyans widely criticized the tear gassing, using the hashtag #OccupyPlayground.
“Shame on the government for assaulting children with tear gas to protect the corrupt,” tweeted Kenyan politician Martha Karua.
“Our school children were promised laptops not canisters of tear gas. Someone must be held accountable,” said Kalonzo Musyoka, Kenya’s former vice president.
“Government will spin #OccupyPlayGround, but remember the children were tear gassed in their school and the land grabber is in government,” tweeted Mwangi, the photojournalist.
Duncan Ondimu, a Nairobi lawyer with the Senior Prosecution Counsel at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, said “actions must be taken” to hold the police accountable.
“The police had bullets and teargas against children and parents who had no weapons. They were not there to protect the children; their instructions were to protect the fence,” said Ken Okoth, a member of the Kenyan parliament, in a Facebook post. “This is historical… I cry for my country.”
Elijah Mwangi, who was in charge of the police officers at the school, said he was simply following orders.
Acting police chief Samuel Arachi told the Associated Press that he had suspended the police officer who was in charge at the scene of the protest, adding that tear gas should not be used in such a situation because the protests were not violent. He said five people have been arrested; three for vandalism and two for incitement.
“We will never allow officers to use force not only on any citizen more so on children whether in a demonstration or otherwise,”
“We will never allow officers to use force not only on any citizen more so on children whether in a demonstration or otherwise,” he said.
Hours after the tear gassing, the Law Society of Kenya named a team of 11 lawyers to probe the police brutality against the schoolchildren, and it’s hoping to prosecute the involved officers, according to its president, Eric Mutua.
“The lawyers will follow the legal procedures with a view to identifying the perpetrators of the worst attack on our children since independence,” he said.