CAMP MINDEN, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A dozen juveniles are facing charges after a disturbance at the Lousiana National Guard Youth Challenge Program at Camp Minden over the weekend.
Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker says it happened Saturday night around 9 p.m. when some of the youths tried to incite a riot and would not follow commands. Two of the youths reportedly tried to grab an officer’s weapon. As a result, an 18-year-old is charged with attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest. Another youth was sent to Ware Youth Center in Coushatta, and Parker says ten other youths were arrested.
The sheriff says this is the second time recently they have been called to the facility. Deputies were called there around midnight two weeks ago for another brawl that resulted in several arrests and caused damage to the barracks days after the current class began its five-month residential program.
According to its website, the Louisiana National Guard Youth Challenge Program is a military-style alternative educational program that offers adolescents an opportunity to change their future, where students looking for a way to succeed outside of a traditional school setting learn self-discipline, leadership, and responsibility while working to obtain a high school equivalency diploma.
