'This is MAGA country:' Police investigate alleged bullying incident at Ohio middle school
Police are investigating after a biracial middle schooler in Ohio was reportedly bullied by a group of boys who said “this is MAGA country” and that “all black people should die,” The Canton Repository reported. Ten sixth-grade boys allegedly surrounded an 11-year-old girl and her friend in the Jackson Memorial Middle School cafeteria, saying they were “the wall.”
The Jackson Township Police Department’s detective bureau is working with school district officials to investigate. An incident report filed with police on Tuesday and shared with Yahoo Lifestyle said the bullying made the girl “fear for her life.”
“It really scared her, you know,” Nicole Arnold, the girl’s mom, told Cleveland news station WJW. “She’s never had to deal with an issue where it’s been about her skin color and that’s disturbing to me and it’s disturbing to her.”
Because the boys mentioned race, Arnold reported the incident as a hate crime to the FBI and contacted the NAACP, according to The Canton Repository.
In a statement, the school district said it was aware of the alleged incident and would be interviewing students who can provide information.
“School safety continues to be a priority at Jackson Schools,” Jackson Local Schools Superintendent Chris DiLoreto said in a statement to The Canton Repository.
The incident was reportedly recorded by a security camera, and Arnold reviewed the tape with school officials, The Canton Repository reported. She said her daughter wasn’t familiar with the term “MAGA,” but said the alleged bullies used President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan repeatedly.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
Mom calls out school district for sexist dress code: ‘We need to stop body shaming our pre-teens’
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