A white Kansas teen has been charged with causing bodily harm after he punched a black fellow student and broke her nose.
The 15-year-old boy, whose name has not been released, has been charged as a juvenile in the Nov. 15 attack at Shawnee Mission East High School, south of Kansas City.
He is caught on camera calling the black girl the “n-word” before he starts hitting her. She then hit him back in self-defense.
Both students were suspended, with the girl receiving a five-day suspension for hitting him back, leading to a walkout of 100 students. They accused the school of punishing the victim.
It is now known that the boy is facing separate charges related to a case in June. In that case, he has been charged with two felonies and one misdemeanor, including aggravated assault, aggravated assault and battery. The Kansas City star reported.
The boy is being held.
At the beginning of the fight, you see the white student marching toward the female student and repeatedly using the N-word
The two start hitting each other as he continues to make racist comments
The argument started when two girls got into an argument with the black girl. As she walked away, the boy got involved.
He yells at her, “Man, shut up!”
The black girl turns and shouts down the hall, “Who said that!?”
The male student charges at the girl, throws his bag on the floor, physically attacks her and pushes her against a wall.
Despite being at a size disadvantage, she continues to fight back against the attack.
‘He said n****r! He said n****r!’” the person who filmed the altercation says repeatedly.
The attack ends when a teacher appears and assaults the male student, causing the pair to be separated.
The gathered students tell the teachers that the white boy threw the first punch.
The student was admitted to hospital with a broken nose, reports said The Kansas City star.
Despite being at a size disadvantage, the student fights back against her attacker
The fight continues in the school hallway
The gathered students tell the teachers that the white student struck first
In protest against the girl’s five-day suspension, a hundred students walked out of class with banners on Monday.
‘We demand action! Protect students of color!’, one sign read.
“We feel ‘safe’ and ‘Take action now,’ read others.
Chants included: “We want change,” “Stands with us,” and “How many more times?”
The newspaper reports that protesters are demanding stricter penalties for the use of racist slurs in schools.
A spokesperson for the school district told the Star that their office “takes incidents of racism and physical violence very seriously.” We do have a code of conduct and follow our policies and procedures.”
The Defender, citing student accounts, said there have been other incidents at the school, including one in which the principal called black students “intimidating” and said they look like they “might jump someone.”
One senior, Charlize Littlejohn, told the Star that racism is “ongoing” at the school.
“There are several situations that have happened over and over again. I think we’re all really tired of trying to make change and we just can’t,” Littlejohn said.
‘We’re just exhausted. Trying to go to class, it really affects us.”
The student was hospitalized with a broken nose, The Kansas City Star reported
According to U.S. News & World Report, 82 percent of students at Shawnee East are white, while 1.6 percent are black. Just over five percent identify as mixed race
Littlejohn said the victim of the attack was not at the protest Monday, but she drove by and waved to her classmates.
Regarding the suspension of the white student, Littlejohn said, “There was no follow-up, no email was sent and no announcement was made. It was not recognized.
‘We were all there. We all watched it. It was emotional and traumatizing.
‘I want things to change. Anyone who was there will not feel safe. I’m not going to feel safe in class.
‘Because that could have been anyone. He could have done it to anyone.
“And I just think it’s scary that something like this can happen in a school.”
The brawl led to a massive walkout at the Kansas school
Students held up signs reading ‘Enough is enough’ and ‘School must feel safe’ after the attack on the black student
According to US News and World Report, 82 percent of students at Shawnee East are white, while 1.6 percent are black. Just over five percent identify as mixed race.
Overall, there is a minority enrollment of 18 percent. It is ranked the second-best high school in the state for performance on state-required tests.
A former teacher, David Muhammad, also spoke about the incident, telling the newspaper that students felt “vulnerable” at school.
“People don’t talk about this because they don’t feel equipped to have a conversation,” he said.
“The reality is that there are students who are looking for teachers and administrators to be the skilled people in the room to guide them in these situations.
‘They are in a vulnerable condition. You can’t solve that by just saying that we have a mission that everyone belongs here and that we expect people to behave a certain way.
‘It does not work. There has to be a commitment to find out what is really going on,” he said.
In 2021, a video of Mohammed organizing a discussion among the school’s students about the merits of the Confederate flag went viral.