Parents and students in Brooklyn rallied in support of a beloved school band leader who was arrested for taping a child's mouth shut. The parents and students say the criminal charges are ridiculous, and that he should be given his job back. NY1's Lindsey Christ filed the following report.

In a struggling corner of Brooklyn, the Soul Tigers Marching Band has been a haven for more than a decade.

"It gets kids off the streets, and we come here and we disrespect, and they change us. We got discipline here and so much more," said student Seyquan Adams.

But the band at IS 292 has been shut down after its leader Kenyatte Hughes was arrested for shutting a 9-year-old band member's mouth with duct tape.

On Wednesday, students and parents rallied to defend Hughes, saying what he did was not criminal.

"In reaching the children, sometimes you have to be just like the children. So we have a tendency to play with them, you know, do little things," said one parent at the rally. "Maybe the joke would have been a little too much, maybe. But intending to hurt someone? Not at all."

They say Hughes used the tape during a history discusson, to give students an idea how slaves felt when they were forbidden to speak. They believe the principal convinced the 9-year-old's parent to press charges, including assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

The parents see this as an extension of a feud between the principal and Hughes, who has long claimed the principal wants to force the band from the school.

"Mr. Hughes had fought to make sure students at IS 292 and surrounding community get the same opportunities children in other neighborhoods get," one parent said. "We will not allow the calculated and malicious actions of Principal Maxfield to further destroy this neighborhood."

However, the Education Department says, "These criminal charges are deeply troubling, and Mr. Hughes will no longer be allowed in IS 292."

Students and parents call it a mistake that should not cause the band's demise.  

When we first got there, it was like, there was a lot of gang violence, so band, like, distracted kids. It took kids off the streets," said one alumnus of the band. "That's why we say band saved our life in a lot of ways."

Hughes has a November 16 court date. Students say they'll support him.