An assault at an Ohio elementary school involving two groups of students has sparked a police investigation, WHIOTV reports.
Police were called to Kenwood Elementary School in Springfield over an incident that happened during recess where “a group of Black students had gathered several white students on a specific spot of the playground and forced them to state ‘Black Lives Matter’ against their will,” according the school's principal.
Students who tried to avoid the situation were “chased down and escorted, dragged, or carried to the playground,” the police report alleges, which adds that one student was punched in the head during the incident.
“I mean I’m angry as a parent but I understand they are children. It’s not okay to hate anybody because of their skin color, or their gender or sexual orientation, or anything like that. Nobody should be hating anybody,” parent Ryan Springer said, whose 12-year-old son was one of the students allegedly forced on the playground.
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“Where was the school staff when all of this was taking place? And why? Why did it get so far?” he said.
Springer's wife, Ashley Henthorne, said she noticed a change in her son's demeanor after the incident.
“I kept asking him all weekend, are you OK? And he kept saying, ‘yeah, I’m just tired’ And then when I got the phone call Monday about it, I was like, ‘that explained a lot.’” Henthorne said, adding that her son did not want to return to school because he was "traumatized."
In a statement, the Springfield School District said it is "committed to providing our students with a safe learning environment, where they look forward to attending every day. The District is aware of a situation that occurred at Kenwood Elementary. We are working closely with the Springfield Police Division on this matter to ensure that we maintain that safe environment. Because this is now a police matter, no additional information is available at this time.”
Springfield police say they are investigating whether the incident was a hate crime.
Watch the video below or at this link.
Report: Police investigating racial incident involving students at elementary school www.youtube.com
