The four suspects - three 14-year-old Latinos and a 15-year-old African-American - were arrested on charges of assault and aggravated harassment - both as hate crimes. They were all released to their parents and are expected to be formally charged as early as today as minors. Their names were not made public.
Kristian said the bullying began when the thugs first called him gay and quickly escalated to him being battered for his Muslim heritage and blamed for terrorist bombings.
"I was very scared that if I told the teachers...they would beat me up more," Kristian said.
He said he remained silent, hoping and praying they would stop.
"It kept going on," he said. "The kids were in my class and they would see me in the halls."
He said one of the teen thugs brazenly attacked him in class, in front of a teacher.
"[He] touched me here and here," he said, pointing to his left elbow and forehead.
The teacher scolded the menace, saying, "'Why did you do that for? He's a good boy. Leave him alone. Why do you keep bothering him?'"
Outside of class, things got worse.
"Four kids punched me everywhere. They would spit in my face, and kick and punch me. I had injuries," Kristian said.
Once he was kicked so hard he had blood in his urine and had to go and see his doctor.
His father, whose first name is Shaffiate, said Kristian, a once-promising student and gifted piano player, has given up music and his grades have suffered.
"He's afraid to go outside alone," the father said.
No comments:
Post a Comment