Authorities in Massachusetts have charged six middle school students for allegedly posting and facilitating a mock ‘slave auction‘ last month that targeted their Black peers.
That mock auction happened between Feb. 8 and Feb. 9 on Snapchat and was created by a group of white eighth-grade students in the New England mill town of Southwick, located more than 100 miles southwest of Boston.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said he learned about the cyberbullying incident some days after it took place and called in state detectives to investigate.
On Thursday, Gulluni’s office announced charges against the six teens who took part in promoting the auction, calling their behavior “vile, cruel, and contemptible” and adding that the auction was started in a “hateful, racist online chat that included heinous language” and “threats.”
“The investigation revealed that several students expressed hateful and racist comments, including notions of violence toward people of color, racial slurs, derogatory pictures and videos, and a mock slave auction directed at two particular juveniles,” Gulluni said in a statement.
All six teens were charged with threat to commit a crime. Two of them face an additional charge of interference with civil rights and one was also charged with witness interference.
One mother told local news outlets that her daughter was a target in the auction, and the kids who participated in the chat placed “$2 to $4 a bid.”
School administrators formally suspended several teens involved in the auction. Two students were suspended for 25 days, and one student for 45 days.
In light of the incident, Gulluni stated that county and state officials have enacted steps to hopefully “prevent future harm, encourage empathy, and build stronger communities free of hate.”
Gulluni spoke with the state attorney general, Andrea Campbell, and others in her office to create a program focused on addressing and remediating bigotry, racism, and bullying in schools.
The Hampden District Attorney’s office also plans to enlist the help of a state police program called HART, also known as the Hate-crimes Awareness and Response Team, to jointly instruct police departments and school personnel across western Massachusetts on best practices regarding hate crimes and bullying within schools.
Gulluni’s office will also deliver a curriculum on hate and bullying to the Southwick school community.
“Hatred and racism have no place in this community. And where this behavior becomes criminal, I will ensure that we act, and act with swift resolve, as we did here, to uncover it and bring it to the light of justice,” Gulluni said.
