Disgusting moment white student at a private Louisiana Catholic school throws cotton at a black student and whips him with a belt: Teenager, 15, is charged with a hate crime
- A white teenager was arrested after he was caught on video throwing cotton at a black student and whipping him with a belt, part of an alleged bullying incident
- The video, filmed last Wednesday, has circulated online and sparked outrage from the local community and beyond
- The white student, identified only as a 15-year-old freshman, has since been charged with simple battery and committing a hate crime
- Vandebilt Catholic High School is 91.3% white and only 2.9% black or African American, with an overall minority enrollment of 8.7%
Video footage captured the disgusting moment a white teenager at a private Catholic high school in Louisiana threw cotton balls at a black student before whipping him with a belt – part of an apparent racist bullying incident.
The unnamed student, who is now facing hate crime charges, is seen in the video walking behind the unidentified black student in a crowded cafeteria at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma before tossing the cotton at him.
The white teenager, identified only as a 15-year-old freshman, is then seen repeatedly slapping him with a belt before the black students gets up and chases him out of frame.
The video, filmed last Wednesday, has circulated online and sparked outrage from the local community and beyond, prompting an investigation from the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office as well as the school and the Archdiocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
The student was arrested on Tuesday and charged with simple battery and committing a hate crime, police said. He was booked into the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Justice Center.
A white teenager at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana, was arrested after he was caught on video throwing cotton at a black student and whipping him with a belt
The white student, identified only as a 15-year-old freshman, has since been charged with simple battery and committing a hate crime
‘A Vandebilt Catholic High student in Lousiana was caught on video throwing cotton & whipping a Black student with a belt! Absolutely disturbing! This incident is NO laughing matter and should never have happened! This student needs to be held accountable for his racist bullying!’ renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump tweeted in a post sharing the video.
The incident also caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which called the incident an ‘inexcusable injustice.’
‘This was a child who thought what he was doing was ok. Potentially even funny. When we think about bullying, when we think about young children who experience bullying and what happens to them, this is how it starts,’ Director Nora Ahmed told WWL-TV.
Vandebilt Catholic High School is 91.3% white and only 2.9% black or African American, with an overall minority enrollment of 8.7%, according to US News & World Report.
‘You know, we can’t sweep this under the rug. We can’t push this off and make this more skeletons in the closet,’ alumnus PJ Allridge told WWL-TV.
The incident also caught the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which called the incident an ‘inexcusable injustice’
Allridge, who coached the black student and is close with the teenager’s family, said he was appalled to see the incident happen at his alma matter.
‘That’s Vandebilt? Like, this is Vandebilt. Houma. Right here, not that far from where I live. A school that I went to, a school that I represent, a school that I coached at. And to see this, it’s hurting. That we’re living in a time such as 2022, to where it’s like we’re not in the 50s, we’re not in the 60s,’ he added.
The Archdiocese of Houma-Thibodaux said a statement last Thursday condemning the incident and saying that the student’s actions ‘are not consistent with the values and mission of our school.’
The archdiocese hasn’t named the student who caused this incident and isn’t commenting on disciplinary action, but says they’re following school investigation policies, WWL-TV reported.
Vandebilt Catholic High School is 91.3% white and only 2.9% black or African American, with an overall minority enrollment of 8.7%, according to US News. Above, alumnus PJ Allridge told a local news station he was appalled to see the incident happen at his alma matter
The family of the child in the video met with school administration and Terrebonne Parish police, which opened the investigation that led to hate crime charges against the white teenager.
‘I’m very pleased that the school took a front stand on this,’ Sheriff Tim Soignet said in a statement to the Courier and Daily Comet.
‘When we received the complaint, we immediately put our detectives on it. They worked through the weekend so we could get to this point and effect an arrest on that juvenile. I’m sad for everyone involved and my officers did a good job handling it and working with the school to get this case to where it is now,’ he added.
‘School officials are working in cooperation with diocesan officials, students and parents to investigate this matter and are committed to ensuring that all individuals involved are held accountable in accordance with school policies,’ the school said in a statement to the news outlet.
The parents of the black student told WWL-TV that they are grateful for the support from the community in holding the white student accountable.
‘We will continue to pray for our school community as a whole, that we not only get through this together but that we each learn a valuable lesson from what has taken place,’ they said in a statement.
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