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Court prohibits four Mead High football players from playing against Mt. Spokane

Mead High School students hold signs Monday, May 13, 2024, outside the school in protest of the district’s response to alleged assaults committed by school football players last summer at Eastern Washington University. (Garrett Cabeza/The Spokesman-Review)
By Garrett Cabeza garrettc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5135

Four Mead High School football players will not be allowed to play in Friday’s rivalry “Battle of the Bell” game against Mt. Spokane High, according to a court ruling filed Thursday.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Annette Plese ordered the Mead School District to prohibit the four players, who allegedly assaulted a former teammate last year, an act which led to the victim’s transfer to Mt. Spokane, from participating or attending the game at Union Stadium.

Marcus Sweetser, trial attorney at Sweetser Law Office in Spokane, is representing the Mt. Spokane player and two other victims who Sweetser said were violated with a massage gun at consecutive Mead summer football camps.

The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office declined to prosecute the students for the gross misdemeanor charges they faced, referring them instead to a diversion program because they didn’t have criminal histories. However, claims against the school district are pending.

The order says the Mt. Spokane player’s family requested “protective measures” to ensure the player’s safety at the game between his current and former schools.

It says the Mead School District declined to implement protective measures by allowing the boys to play in the game, and that allowing the victim’s “assailants to confront him at the upcoming football game will create an unsafe environment and cause additional trauma to (the victim).”

“Protecting the well being and safety of a sexual assault victim takes precedence over other considerations presented by the Defendant Mead School District,” Plese wrote.

Connelly Law Offices, which has locations throughout Washington, is also representing two former Mead High School football players who claim they were threatened, assaulted and “racially bullied” for months following assaults during a 2023 football camp.

Four of the five players represented by the two law offices are Black.

District spokesman Todd Zeidler said in a text message the district does not comment on student disciplinary measures.