The families and legal team will hold a Monday news conference to demand accountability
LOUIS, Mo. (October 26, 2025) – Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, along with Ohio-based co-counsel Sean Walton, Michael Wright, Robert Gresham, and Anthony Pierson, have been retained to represent 23 Cardinal Ritter College Prep football players and their families following the pepper-spraying of student-athletes by police at the end of the Oct. 9 game against Massillon (Ohio) Washington High School.
According to the legal team, officers with the Massillon Police Department deployed pepper spray during a post-game on-field altercation, striking Cardinal Ritter student-athletes. Attorneys note they have never heard of another incident where police pepper-sprayed high school players on the field and question why no Massillon players, coaches, or staff were sprayed. Families are further outraged that neither the Massillon Police Department nor the superintendent of Massillon City Schools has apologized or accepted responsibility for their respective roles in the incident.
Cardinal Ritter College Prep is the only co-ed, all-Black Catholic high school in the United States and has served students for 46 years. The school community is proud of its heritage and is committed to protecting its students and legacy.
WHO:
Families of Cardinal Ritter College Prep football players
Attorney Ben Crump
Attorneys Sean Walton, Michael Wright, Robert Gresham, and Anthony Pierson
WHEN:
Monday, Oct. 27, 2025
12:00 p.m. CT
WHERE:
Outside Cardinal Ritter College Prep
701 N. Spring Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63108
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MEDIA CONTACT:
ABOUT BEN CRUMP LAW
Through his work, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump has spearheaded a legal movement to better protect the rights of marginalized citizens. He has led landscape-changing civil rights cases and represented clients in a wide range of areas including civil rights, personal injury, labor and employment, class actions, and more. Ben Crump Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable. For more information, visit bencrump.com.
