Michael Chwe, michael@chwe.net
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On May 4, 2011, an African American student on the Santa Monica High School wrestling team entered the practice room and saw a noose hung around a wrestling practice dummy. In the locker room, two boys, also on the team, grabbed him, slipped a lock through his belt loop, and connected it to a nearby locker. Then the boys allegedly shouted, "Slave for sale."
Santa Monica HS administrators were informed of this incident that evening and organized counseling sessions for the team. However, Santa Monica HS administrators did not report this incident to the police. They did not inform Veronica Gray, the victim's mother, of the incident. They destroyed cell phone pictures which other students took of the noose. Ms. Gray found out about the incident more than three weeks later, on May 31, 2011, from another parent of a student on the wrestling team. The victim did not tell his mother about the incident. According to Ms. Gray, Leslie Wells, principal of H House at Santa Monica HS, had told her son that if he spoke up, the wrestling program might be cancelled. Ms. Gray stated that "administrators deliberately tried to keep the racial harassment of her son as quiet as possible, which is why she was never notified."
This incident was reported to the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) on June 21, 2011. On June 28, 2011, Sergeant Richard Lewis of the SMPD stated that the two students could face charges of assault and battery for allegedly restraining the victim, as well as hate crime charges. Section 11411 of the California Penal Code states that “Any person who hangs a noose, knowing it to be a symbol representing a threat to life . . . on the property of a primary school, junior high school, high school, college campus, public park, or place of employment, for the purpose of terrorizing any person who attends or works at the school, park, or place of employment . . . shall be punished by imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed one year, or by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000)." For example, on June 20, 2011, the Santa Ana Police Department arrested Marten Joseph Brandel for hanging a noose on the front door of Equality California’s Santa Ana headquarters on October 29, 2010.
Sergeant Richard Lewis also stated that officers were "looking into who knew about [the attack] and didn't tell. . . . [S]ome information came to light that there may have been some mishandling of the incident by schol administrators. . . . [I]f nothing was reported [to police], that could be a crime in and of itself." Destroying evidence relating to a crime and intimidating witnesses are examples of obstruction of justice.
The investigation of Santa Monica HS administrators was conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau (ICIB). On October 28, 2011, the ICIB found no probable cause that SMMUSD personnel had done anything "that supports an allegation of criminal misconduct." The criminal investigation of the two students was completed in November 2011; the Distrctrict Attorney's Office is now considering whether to file charges.
By (1) not informing Ms. Gray, the student’s mother, (2) trying to intimidate the student to not report the incident with the threat of canceling the wrestling program, and (3) destroying crucial evidence for the crime, SMMUSD and Santa Monica HS administrators prevented Ms. Gray and her son from ensuring their own safety and civil rights, guaranteed under state and federal law. The actions of SMMUSD and Santa Monica HS administrators defy common sense and place all students at risk.
According to columnist Bill Bauer, "The failure of district administrators to promptly notify the alleged victim's parent at the time may not have been against the law technically, but it's an inexcusable breach of responsibility and decency." When SMMUSD Board Member Oscar de la Torre asked Supt. Cuneo why the SMMUSD did not report the incident to police, Cuneo said he did not know why.
On November 16, 2011, Veronica Gray initiated an online petition concerning the hate crime incident. Ms. Gray states: "This horrifying incident proved to me that our children's school climate in Santa Monica is not safe. In addition, recent test scores demonstrate that, not only has there been no progress in closing the racial academic achievement gap, but the gap has widened." In the petition, Ms. Gray calls for the SMMUSD to raise awareness about racial injustice, promote anti-bias training for teachers, administrators, staff, volunteers, and students, implement mandatory reporting protocols for all hate-motivated incidents, and bring a proven program for addressing the achievement gap to our schools.
ABC News report, June 30, 2011.
Ms. Veronica Gray's petition, November 26, 2011.