A Bellingham, Washington, mother is criticizing school officials for their response after her 16-year-old transgender son was assaulted by a group of students.
Police are investigating an alleged attack that took place off school grounds, with both assault and hate crime charges against several boys believed to have been involved in the Oct. 22 assault that was videotaped and posted on social media. He is being pursued on suspicion of
The 16-year-old sophomore claims members of the group repeatedly pushed, punched and punched him while shouting anti-transgender phrases. The victim fled and took shelter at Bellingham High School, where he reported the attack to administrators.
Bellingham High School officials had the transgender boy call his mother, but school officials did not call police or medical assistance until she arrived at school, she claims.
“If I didn’t insist that [school officials call 911] If it had been repeated over and over again, they wouldn’t have done it,” said Alyssa Reuben, the victim’s mother. Bellingham Herald. “There was no need to ask. The fact that they didn’t call 911 felt like a complete dereliction of duty.”
Ruben took her son to the emergency department at St. Joseph Medical Center, where he was evaluated and released. The boy suffered cuts, swelling and bruises on his face and now suffers from frequent headaches and memory loss.
He is undergoing follow-up tests for possible traumatic brain injury from the attack, which could have lifelong adverse health effects.
Ruben said her son was jumped by several boys without provocation outside a store on Cornwall Street in Bellingham. Her son was allegedly punched, thrown against a tree, slammed to the ground and kicked in the head multiple times while his attackers shouted anti-transgender slurs and other insults.
A friend of her son’s found the video of the attack on Instagram. Police were able to use this information to help authorities identify the suspect.
“It took me several days to understand the seriousness of my child.” [beaten] Because they’re transgender,” Ruben told the AM radio station. KOMO News. “The children who attacked my child should have been expelled from school immediately.”
Bellingham Public Schools spokeswoman Dana Smith confirmed that school officials were aware of the attack.
“We are aware of the off-campus assault that occurred on October 22nd, and we assisted the student and his parents in reporting it to the Bellingham Police Department,” Smith said. herald In a statement. “We will continue our school-based investigation and continue to cooperate with law enforcement investigations.
“The identities of the other individuals involved were initially unknown to school officials. Once we learned their identities, we shared that information with police. We continue to share additional information with police as witnesses come forward.” If these individuals are students at our school, we will also follow district policies and procedures.”
Mr Reuben said police appeared to be taking the allegations seriously and were seeking grievous assault charges against those involved. But she is critical of school officials, who she believes failed to protect her son and other gay students, including her eldest son, who has already graduated.
“This is not the first time we have had to deal with serious bullying within our school district,” she said.
“There is actually about 45 seconds of video recorded by one of the attackers,” said Lance Preston, executive director of the Rainbow Youth Project, about the attack. “It only lasted a few seconds, but it was terrifying.”
Preston said LGBTQ children, especially transgender youth, are often targets of bullying and assault. The organization recorded 3,748 crisis interventions from across the country in October alone. Statistics compiled by the organization show that 84% of LGBTQ students report bullying at school, and one in three report physical assault.
Preston said his organization is providing support to Reuben’s family.
“We are very impressed with the Bellingham Police Department. The detectives there are doing everything in their power to hold these people accountable,” he said. “If we keep these incidents quiet, we’re basically making a statement to young people that it’s okay, that it’s acceptable. The victims are really worthless and they don’t matter. We don’t want any child, LGBTQ or not, to feel like they don’t deserve to be safe at school.”
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Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
