A Houston mother and a local activist spoke out against Memorial High School on Tuesday after her son was the victim of a reported hate crime.
As KPRC 2 reports, Hattie William’s claims that five white students and her 17-year-old African son got into an argument prior to the altercation on February 8.
Activist Quanell X told reporters that the victim had received racist and threatening messages from the students on social media prior to the attack, Hollywood Unlocked reports.
He showed reporters a paper with a screenshot of the message and explained:
“They posted this before they lured him across the street: ‘black man hanging from a tree, I’ll hang your a**, on the spot.”
As KPRC 2 reports, the activist continued by reading another post the teen reportedly received.
He said:
“One student postedWhat’s good little n***** talk s*** get ganged. ‘Once we kill him, we’ll throw him off a top.’ Look at this, they’re talking about killing this kid and what they would do with his body after they killed the kid.”
Quanell X told reporters that William’s son is a special needs student with a speech impediment who was lured by bullies. Further, he expressed why he felt the students’ school handled the crime improperly.
He said:
“One black kid lured across the street and jumped by at least five white boys. We know for a fact three of them are still in school till this day and two others were allowed to transfer. They have separated her son, put him in ISS (in-school suspension) for the fight. The only black kid that was jumped by five white kids, he’s in ISS. None of them are in ISS, not one.”
The Spring Branch Independent School District released a statement regarding the attack confirming that social media posts were involved.
The district said:
On Feb. 8, Memorial High School experienced a substantial disruption of the school environment due to social media posts which frightened many students and parents. The campus has and will continue to respond to the situation according to the requirements of state and federal law and the SBISD student code of conduct. The district reported the information received to the FBI and is collaborating with the FBI on this matter. The district must protect the confidentiality of all students and this situation is no different, so the district is not able to respond with facts to set the record straight about all the circumstances.
According to Hollywood Unlocked, William’s son suffered a concussion after the attack.