Tallahassee's WCTV reported that Chiles High School Principal Joe Burgess spoke to the student — seen in the video shooting the pellet gun while talking about attacking "n*ggers" and driving — and claimed to have taken "appropriate disciplinary measures."
"You know," Burgess told WCTV, "if you have enough students and enough people you have things happen."
It has clearly been fully passed on to the next generation. These are high school students from Tallahassee's Chiles High School in Florida - shooting a pellet gun out of their car window (possibly at people) while shouting racial slurs. pic.twitter.com/DUP80ifkTe
On Monday, BET reported that parents at an Aliso Viejo, California high school are outraged after a racist prom invite mocking the murder of George Floyd went viral.
"According to KNBC, a post shows a male student holding a sign that read, 'If you went to prom with me, it would take my breath away' next to a photo of George Floyd, who was murdered by former police officer Derek Chauvin a year ago this week," said the report. "The school district said in a statement, 'The sign is disgusting, lacks cultural sensitivity, is deeply offensive, and does not reflect the values we strive for in our school district. We serve a diverse community and we value all of our students and families. This is heartbreaking and in instances such as this, we work with school leadership to address the situation.'"
Per the report, parents are demanding accountability for the incident.
"Parents Angela and Mike, who say their daughter has experienced racism at the school and alerted them of the racist invitation, are demanding action," said the report. "'We all make dumb decisions in high school and college, but at the same time he does need to be taught a lesson,' Mike said. 'We really just don't want this kid around our daughter, plain and simple.'"
The graphic Minneapolis video of Floyd begging for his life as Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nine minutes galvanized national outrage and protests all over the country. Chauvin was put on trial, with the former being found guilty of murder and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Three other officers on the scene were found guilty of refusing to render aid.
Meanwhile, the protests around the country became a flashpoint for partisan culture wars, with Fox News and other right-wing media outlets trying to paint the protesters as violent anarchists even when they clearly were not.
A finance report filed last week indicates Colorado secretary of state candidate Tina Peters used campaign money to fund a trip to Florida to attend a screening of a documentary focused on baseless claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
On May 5, Peters attended a screening of “2000 Mules,” a film by conservative media personality Dinesh D’Souza, at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. The film falsely implies that rampant voter fraud compromised the 2020 presidential election, costing Trump a second term. Peters, the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder, has built her campaign around such claims of election fraud, which have been repeatedly debunked by experts, courts and election officials from both parties.
Mar-a-Lago has become a destination for conservative candidates seeking a Trump endorsement, but Peters has not received one.
Her campaign disclosed multiple expenditures apparently related to the trip on a May 16 finance report: about $473 for a Palm Beach hotel down the street from Mar-a-Lago, about $15 for a Starbucks order with the memo “FL trip,” and about $27 for an Uber ride with the memo “FL travel.” The campaign also listed about $400 for air travel and luggage fees.
Peters, currently the Mesa County clerk and recorder, is seeking the Republican nomination for secretary of state against Pam Anderson and Mike O’Donnell. Her campaign did not return a request for comment.
Colorado’s campaign and political finance manual states that “money spent on anything for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate is considered an expenditure.” Expenditures typically involve advertising costs, data acquisition, consulting costs or expenses for travel to campaign events around the state or district. Peters did not mention her candidacy when sharing photos of herself from the event on social media.
Additionally, Peters spent $800 for 40 tickets to the movie, which had a limited release in early May and is also available to watch online. Her campaign reported that expenditure on April 28, before the Florida trip.
Peters is mostly barred from leaving the state because of her recent grand jury indictment. She was allowed to travel to Florida, however, as reported by 9News.
She was indicted earlier this year on 10 counts, including seven felonies, in relation to a security breach of Mesa County’s election system. She was also recently barred from having a role in overseeing the 2022 primary and general elections.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.
On Nov. 30, 2021, a suicidal teenager killed seven fellow students at Oxford High School in Michigan. The family of one teen is joining a lawsuit that attacks the failures of the school to follow warning signs about the mass shooter, reported Click Detroit.
Justin Shilling was trying to protect younger student Keegan Gregory, while the two were hiding in a bathroom stall.
After shooting Justin, the shooter ordered Keegan against the wall. Justin had a plan that Keegan said gave him the confidence to run. “The minute the shooter took his gun off Keegan and pointed at the wall where he was going to kill him, he ran." Keegan is now facing serious trauma and his family believes it will be a long road.
“Justin’s final moments were spent protecting Keegan,” said Justin's mom, Jill Soave. “No 17-year-old should be put in that position.”
Soave joined a new lawsuit against the Oxford Community Schools and Oxford High School for reckless action.
“We are beyond heartbroken, we’re traumatized, we’re devastated and we are not ok,” Soave said. “It’s been 174 days since he was murdered and it feels like it was just last week. For me, there will never be healing, there will only be coping.”
“You only wish that they will have what you had when they graduated,” Shilling’s father, Craig, said. “The fun times with your friends and the parties.”
Attorney Ven Johnson said that the school's procedures should have protected the students first and the families want to know what went wrong to ensure it'll never happen again.
“Understanding what happened, full transparency, exposing that, calling attention to it coming up with better processes, so no one ever has to go through this again," said Johnson.
Justin's death not only saved Keegan but he also saved six others by giving his organs to save their lives.
