A 15-year-old student Monday became the second teen to plead guilty to posting racist online threats calling for violence against Black students at Arbor View High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As reported by the Las Vegas Journal-Review, the teen pleaded guilty in juvenile court to a felony charge of making a terroristic threat against the school. The charge stems from an Instagram post last month in which the student vowed to “cleanse the hallways” of Blacks.
Members of the group “No Racism in Schools,” hereafter an April 5 hearing for one of the teens who has pleaded guilty to creating the threatening posts, said no child should go to school and fear for their safety. (Las Vegas Now / video screenshot)
Another post referenced the Columbine High School massacre of 1999 that left 12 students and one teacher dead at the Colorado school.
The 15-year-old and a 14-year-old co-defendant, who previously admitted to authoring the social media posts, were arrested March 19. Neither student has been identified due to their ages.
Both teens face several charges, including making terroristic threats with a hate crime enhancement, cyberbullying and breach of peace.
The 14-year-old was ordered to complete a diversion program at a juvenile center, followed by 36 months of probation, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. The 15-year-old is set to be sentenced Friday.
Prosecutor Brigid Duffy recommended the diversion program for the first teen “where he would be immersed with children of all races while completing ‘corrective’ programs that typically run about nine months”, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The defense attorney Adam Solinger, on the other hand, thought the teen would be better served receiving counseling while at home with his family.
“The state references that they’re not quite sure how to cure racism, and I don’t know, either,” Solinger said. “I don’t think anyone has a definite answer to it. But I don’t think incarceration is necessarily the answer to that.”
Members of the group “No Racism in Schools” have been attending sentencing hearings and said no child should go to school and fear for their safety.
“No child should go to school scared, wondering if they’re going to make it home because they’ve targeted because of the color of their skin,” one woman, who asked not to be identified, told local station KLAS. “It’s 2019. It’s not 1865.”
CCSD police Sgt. Brian Zink told FOX 5 Vegas a third student was also cited for cyberbullying in connection to the threatening posts. The investigation into the posts is ongoing, and Zink said Arbor View students can expect to see an increased police presence at the school.
In all, nine victims — photos of nine Black students were included in the teens’ threatening posts — were identified in the case. However, Bridgett Duffy with the district attorney’s office that for her, “every black child at Arbor View is a victim.”
Watch more in the video below.
