HUNTINGTOWN, Md. — Three southern Maryland high school students have been charged with hate crimes after displaying swastikas, giving the Nazi salute and making derogatory comments about a classmate’s religion, prosecutors said.
Officials with the Calvert County State’s Attorney’s Office said the harassment began in December and the students refused to stop despite repeated requests. The victim eventually reported the behavior to Maryland State Police, who investigated and filed charges against the students.
The defendants, all 13 of them, are students at Plum Point Middle School in Calvert County, which serves students in sixth through eighth grades and is located approximately 50 miles southeast of Washington, DC. Their names are being kept secret because they are minors. .
Officials said the charges will be forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services for appropriate action.
Prosecutors announced the charges in a news release last week. They did not elaborate on the alleged derogatory comments.
“Maryland was founded on the principle of religious tolerance,” State Attorney Robert Harvey said in a statement. “It is nothing short of astonishing that almost 400 years later, some people continue to persecute others based on their religion.”
Calvert County Public Schools officials did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday.
The school system’s website includes a statement about how it handles allegations of racism and other forms of discrimination.
“Calvert County Public Schools explicitly denounces racism, bullying, discrimination, white supremacy, hatred and racial inequality in any form within our school community,” the statement said.
A report released in March 2023 by the Anti-Defamation League found that anti-Semitic incidents in Maryland had nearly doubled in the past year. Similar cases of anti-Semitism have also increased nationally in recent years.
Responding to the 2023 report, Maryland Governor Wes Moore called the increase “absolutely unacceptable.”
“I want everyone in Maryland to hear me clearly – hate has no home in our state,” he said in a statement at the time. “I refuse to let these alarming actions go unnoticed.”