Police investigate alleged racially-charged prank at Santa Monica High School (KTLA-TV) |
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KTLA) -- Many people are demanding answers after members of the Santa Monica High School wrestling team allegedly hung a noose and used racially-charged remarks in an apparent prank against an African American teammate.
The student told police he walked into the school's locker room on May 4 and found a brown practice mannequin with a noose around its neck. He says two students held him in a bear hug as he tried to change and then chained his pants to a locker, according to the report.
The students also allegedly called him a slave.
The student and his mother reported the incident to police on June 21 -- more than one month after it occurred.
A school board meeting Thursday evening was packed with students, parents and members of civil rights groups. Many of them addressed the crowd.
"Once again, terrorizing anyone with a noose is a criminal offense," Najee Ali, of Project Islamic Hope said, while holding up a noose.
"A crime was committed at that high school, according to the state law," Ali added.
But others had a different opinion of the events.
Robert Forster, a volunteer coach at the high school, said that an athlete who was in the locker room at the time of the incident claimed there was "nothing racially said during that period."
"The second incident, which is completely unrelated, of being locked to a locker... is a prank," Forster said. "It is not hazing. It's a prank... It was a funny thing that the athletes think are funny in the locker room."
"No one should be getting their facts from the newspaper instead of the district," another woman said.
Still, many people are questioning the way the school handled the incident.
The boy's mother, Victoria Gray, tells the Los Angeles Times that she was upset because she was never notified by the school and found out about the incident from a parent she didn't know. She then approached her son about the events.
The boy apparently waited to tell his mother about the ordeal because he didn't want to cause trouble for his teammates or make a big deal out of it.
Students told KTLA that the school knew about what had happened and that there were even cell phone pictures taken, but administrators had them deleted.
"We want to know why they did not report this to the police immediately, and why it took them so long to contact the mother," Ali told KTLA.
In a June 16 email to parents, Principal Hugo A. Pedroza called the incident, a "serious matter that warranted a swift and appropriate response."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is now investigating the school's response.
The Santa Monica Police Department is conducting a separate investigation into the incident itself.
Police say the students could face assault and battery charges, and since a noose was involved, the encounter could constitute a hate crime.
The students involved have been suspended.
The student told police he walked into the school's locker room on May 4 and found a brown practice mannequin with a noose around its neck. He says two students held him in a bear hug as he tried to change and then chained his pants to a locker, according to the report.
The students also allegedly called him a slave.
The student and his mother reported the incident to police on June 21 -- more than one month after it occurred.
A school board meeting Thursday evening was packed with students, parents and members of civil rights groups. Many of them addressed the crowd.
"Once again, terrorizing anyone with a noose is a criminal offense," Najee Ali, of Project Islamic Hope said, while holding up a noose.
"A crime was committed at that high school, according to the state law," Ali added.
But others had a different opinion of the events.
Robert Forster, a volunteer coach at the high school, said that an athlete who was in the locker room at the time of the incident claimed there was "nothing racially said during that period."
"The second incident, which is completely unrelated, of being locked to a locker... is a prank," Forster said. "It is not hazing. It's a prank... It was a funny thing that the athletes think are funny in the locker room."
"No one should be getting their facts from the newspaper instead of the district," another woman said.
Still, many people are questioning the way the school handled the incident.
The boy's mother, Victoria Gray, tells the Los Angeles Times that she was upset because she was never notified by the school and found out about the incident from a parent she didn't know. She then approached her son about the events.
The boy apparently waited to tell his mother about the ordeal because he didn't want to cause trouble for his teammates or make a big deal out of it.
Students told KTLA that the school knew about what had happened and that there were even cell phone pictures taken, but administrators had them deleted.
"We want to know why they did not report this to the police immediately, and why it took them so long to contact the mother," Ali told KTLA.
In a June 16 email to parents, Principal Hugo A. Pedroza called the incident, a "serious matter that warranted a swift and appropriate response."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is now investigating the school's response.
The Santa Monica Police Department is conducting a separate investigation into the incident itself.
Police say the students could face assault and battery charges, and since a noose was involved, the encounter could constitute a hate crime.
The students involved have been suspended.
