Surveillance video of an incident that occurred on Feb. 10 shows a number of black students at Kenwood Elementary School in Springfield, Ohio, physically attacking white students and reportedly forcing them to say “black lives matter.”
Police were not called to the school about the incident until Monday, Feb. 13.
A third black student charges in, knocking the white student to the ground. The third black student bends over the white student, repeatedly punching them in the head before standing up and walking away. The white student is then hauled up from the ground by three black students. Staggering and dazed, the white student is manhandled briefly before being forced to kneel on the cement. At one point, the stunned white student falls over onto the cement, only to be physically lifted back up onto their knees. According to police reports, the student was forced to say “black lives matter.”
A second white student approaches, seeming to try to come to the other white student’s aid. But the second white student is confronted by the black students and is also instructed to kneel on the ground. As four black students stand over them, reports say they demanded both white students say “black lives matter” while the black students filmed them obeying. At one point, the five black students in the video can be seen excitedly jumping up and down as if celebrating.
‘Chased Down,’ ‘Dragged or Carried’
According to Dayton 2 25/7 Now, Kenwood Elementary School Principal Evan Hunsaker told police that some of the white students who tried to avoid the assault were “chased down and escorted, dragged or carried” to the area near the swings.“I just wanted to let people know that my 12 year old was really forced on his knees Friday and to say blm,” Harr said. “Watch your babies! This is getting unsafe!” In the comment thread, Harr said her son was “thrown to the ground.” She also said that “the teacher watched it all.”
“I’m checking into a lawyer for sure,” Harr added. “This is insane. Poor kid is terrified to go to school.”
“They basically told him to get down on his knees and say ‘BLM,’ and if he didn’t, that they was going to beat him up and all that,” Spinger said. “I’m not angry about my son saying Black Lives Matter. Everybody’s life does matter. I’m more about the assault of it, of him being forced down on the ground.”
“While privacy laws only allow the District to provide details about the discipline of a child to their parent or guardian, the Springfield City School District does not approve of and will not tolerate the reported behavior,” the statement said further. “The Springfield Police Division is in the process of pursuing charges for involved students based upon the ongoing investigation and the District will issue appropriate school discipline in accordance with Board Policy.”
‘A Teachable Moment’
Springfield NAACP President Denise Williams told WKEF on Feb. 24, “I don’t care what color they are. They need to be held accountable.”However, she doesn’t believe the black students should face any charges because the assaults have been blown out of proportion.
“This is a teachable moment,“ Williams said in agreement with the district’s ”learning experience“ sentiment. ”We need to really educate the school, and the parents.”
A week later, Williams still believes the racially motivated attack is no big deal.
“This whole thing has been blown completely out of proportion,” Williams told The Epoch Times on March 3. “This is not something that needs national attention. Trust and believe. This has been blown completely and totally out of proportion. I’m not standing for it, this racial tension. It’s blown completely out of proportion and we’re still trying to resolve it, and that’s all I want to say and I'll leave it at that.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Kenwood Elementary School and to the School District and the Springfield Police Department several times but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
