Nicole Arnold told FOX 8 Cleveland her 11-year-old daughter, who she describes as very “soft-spoken” and not one for violence or drama, was recently the target of racist bullying and harassment by white students who support President Donald Trump.
The mother of a biracial child filed a report with police her daughter was allegedly the target of a racist threat by a group of white students. (Representational photo by Roy McMahon / Getty Images)
Arnold said her daughter was in the cafeteria with a friend when suddenly the girls were surrounded by a group of boys who formed a “wall” around them and invoked President Trump, saying: “This is Trump, MAGA, country and we are the wall, and all Black people should die.”
Arnold said the incident has left her daughter pretty shaken.
“It really scared her, you know,” she told the station. “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.”
Arnold reported the incident to Jackson Township Police, who said any threat of violence at a school will be taken seriously. Police Chief Mark Brink said the report was turned over to the department’s detectives and that an investigation is underway. He also indicated there’s video of the incident and that police plan to interview the students involved.
“We’re going to look at that and we are going to find out the truth,” Brink told FOX 8. “Then we will make decisions based on what that investigation shows and it will be forwarded to the prosecutor. They will look at it then to determine whether charges are warranted or not.”
Superintendent Chris DiLoreto addressed the incident in a statement Wednesday, saying the district was aware of the allegations involving a group of sixth-grade students and that “safety continues to be a top priority of Jackson Local Schools.” Arnold said she’s happy the school and police are taking the matter seriously but wants more to be done to ensure her daughter feels safe once she returns to school.
“We need to pull together as parents of these children — of the youth — and let them know that this behavior is not ok,” she said. “It’s not going to be tolerated for anybody.”
The incident comes a year after a student sneaked a gun into the middle school and took his life before any fellow students or teachers were injured.
Watch more in the video below.
