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A group of middle school football teammates in Texas allegedly made one of their Black classmates drink urine and called him racial and homophobic slurs at a sleepover. The boy’s mother, who posted video of the incident online, says the attack was clearly premeditated for weeks, and she’s calling for a hate crime investigation.
Videos by VICE
The mother, Summer Smith, posted the now-viral video last week, which shows a white teammate forcing her son to drink a cup of yellow fluid at another student’s house early last month, apparently late at night. He’s wrapped in blankets as other kids are heard laughing in the background. The family’s attorney also posted video of the 13-year-old boy being hit in the face while he slept, along with another video from the sleepover of him drinking the yellow liquid.
The Plano Independent School District and the Plano Texas Police Department have both launched investigations into the harassment. But the family and its attorney, Kim T. Cole, want a full hate crime investigation to take place.
“This was a racially motivated hate crime,” Cole wrote in another Facebook post. “These teens MUST be held accountable for their depraved acts.”
Smith said during a Friday press conference at the Plano Texas Police station a boy at the sleepover befriended her son weeks before the sleepover and persuaded him to come to the birthday sleepover. Then, one of the boys at the sleepover woke the middle schooler up his sleep and forced urine down his throat, saying he needed to drink it because he had stopped breathing, Smith said. during a press conference.
Smith says Facebook restricted the video of her son being forced to drink the liquid and it’s now been taken down from her profile. She also said her son was also called racial and homophobic slurs by the same group of boys in the post, according to NBC. She also wrote her son was allegedly attacked with a BB gun at the sleepover by the other teammates, in addition to being hit in the face.
“How horrible must you be?” Smith said at the press conference. “This is not a prank. This is beyond bullying. You are evil. They are evil.”
Smith said at the press conference that the district originally said there was little officials could do because the harassment happened off school grounds. But after the incident went viral, the district now says it plans to work with the Plano police department to investigate the matter.
“With the recent off-campus incident at the forefront of our community’s concerns, please know that the Board maintains strict, legal policies that protect the welfare of our students, and that unequivocally prohibit bullying and harassment,” reads the school district’s statement, which was released Sunday. “To that end, we intend to continue working with our parents, community and local law enforcement to resolve this concern while remaining focused on the success and wellbeing of our students.”
The police department, on the other hand, said an investigation into the incident began “immediately” after it received a report on March 3.
“The Detective and School Resource Officer will continue to work with Plano ISD officials to conduct a full and thorough investigation in an effort to identify any and criminal offenses that might have occurred during and prior to this incident.
The attorney has also set up a GoFundMe campaign to help the boy’s family pay for him to attend therapy and be transferred to a private school. It’s so far raised more than $57,000.
