Black student reportedly tased by group of teens dressed in KKK robes
Texas teen says he was attacked with a stun gun on Halloween by some Woodsboro High School classmates wearing Ku Klux Klan costumes.
A Black teenager has retained an attorney after being attacked with a stun gun in Woodsboro, Texas, on Halloween by some high school classmates wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.
Associated Press is reporting that the unidentified boy’s attorney, Matt Manning, gave a press conference last week, where he said his client was not seriously injured.
“For you to dress up as a Klansman, you have a specific intent of terrorizing,” Manning said, per AP. “That’s not an accident. That’s not kids being kids. That’s not boys being boys. That’s not hazing or high school hijinks. High school hijinks are egging somebody’s house, not dressing up as a Klansman and Tasing them.”
Manning posited that there may be as many as six victims of the Halloween night attacks, noting that outside of his client, the other five were not tased, but possibly chased or “otherwise terrorized.”
According to the report, Manning did not identify the race of the robed teens. However, a local NAACP chapter president, Jeremy Lane Coleman, is calling the attack a hate crime.
Per Newsweek, Manning added, “I think it’s really important to discuss the historical context — the Klan is a particularly evocative terror group for Black Americans.” The attorney is demanding action from law enforcement and the local school district.
Sheriff’s deputies in Refugio County are aware of the incident, but no one has yet been arrested or charged with a crime.
According to a report from Revolt, officials at Woodsboro High School have expressed “disappointment” with the act, but the assailants, believed to be football players for Woodsboro High School, have not been disciplined because the attack occurred off-campus.
“While we are deeply disappointed that any of our students might find this type of behavior acceptable, the district cannot discipline students for this type of conduct when it occurs off-campus,” Superintendent Ronald D. Segers Jr. wrote in a statement.
“Woodsboro ISD counselors are available to speak with any student who has been impacted by this event,” he maintained. “The district will continue to strictly enforce its anti-discrimination policy to the fullest extent permitted by the law and the Student Code of Conduct.”
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