BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — A 15-year-old student has admitted to posting a racist message that prompted a large student walkout at Berkeley High School.
The Oakland Tribune reports Friday that the student likely will be turned over to juvenile probation for any charges.
The student confessed Thursday and is aware of the fear caused by the racist message, school principal Sam Pasarow said.
The post was discovered Wednesday on a library computer. The message referred to the Ku Klux Klan, using derogatory language related to African-Americans and threatening a “public lynching” on Dec. 9.
At least 1,000 students walked off campus Thursday in protest.
The student has not been identified by name.
The threat was the third racist incident at the school in the last year.
In December, over winter break, a noose made from string was found hanging from a tree on the campus. In the spring, the yearbook was altered just prior to printing, identifying an academy within the high school that serves primarily students of color as “trash collectors of tomorrow,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Berkeley High School and the city of Berkeley are well-known as places that celebrate diversity and champion civil rights.
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AP photo: Berkeley High School students yell around Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley for a rally against racism in Berkeley, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015.
Future Sean Hannity intern.
This school sounds like it has a pretty small but vocal racist contingent. Good to see that a majority( and diverse!) amount of the students are standing up against this nonsense.
Man!
That dude in the front row with the shades (gafas) was ME 50 years ago. Like me (50 years ago) “most” of my mind was on the injustice.
If racism can exist on Planet Berkeley then it can thrive elsewhere Justice Roberts.
“… the message was found to originate from the HSYR (High School Young Republicans) dedicated computer…”