PORT TOWNSEND — Two Chimacum eighth-grade students accused of bringing weapons to school on Monday pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Jefferson County District Court.
Each of the two 14-year-olds was charged with possession of a firearm or other dangerous weapon on school grounds, a gross misdemeanor, and appeared in front of a visiting judge, Douglas County Superior Court Judge John Hotchkiss.
Peninsula Daily News is not identifying the two boys because of their age.
Both are charged as juveniles and each could receive a sentence of 30 days, Prosecutor Cheryl Potebnya said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office took them into custody on Monday morning at the school.
Sheriff Tony Hernandez said that one was carrying a 24-inch machete and the other a meat cleaver and two folding knives.
Investigations by Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies revealed that there has been ongoing tension between some members of a group of Chimacum students who call themselves “Juggalos” — fans of a “horrorcore” rap group — and other students, and that there had been a confrontation at last Friday night’s Chimacum-Port Townsend football game.
The term “juggalo” is usually used to describe fans of the band Insane Clown Posse, a rap group from Detroit known for dressing up as sadistic, mentally unstable clowns.
The Chimacum High, Middle and Elementary schools were put on lockdown for about three hours Monday while law enforcement searched the schools and interviewed 14 other students.
No other weapons were found and no additional arrests were made.
The two boys will appear for a pretrial hearing at 10 a.m. Nov. 10.
Public defenders for the boys were appointed by the court.
Prosecutor Cheryl Potebnya requested a $2,500 bail for each defendant, but their attorneys requested them to be released in an alternative program or to forego bail.
Hotchkiss denied this motion, saying that both represented a danger to society, but reduced the bail in both cases to $1,000.
Each was forbidden to have contact with the other.
