Several high school seniors in Texas took their senior prank a little too far this year. 17-year-old Ryan Westbrook, 18-year-old Ethan Sigmund, 18-year-old Christian Joeckel, 17-year-old Hayden Honoloka, and 18-year-old Cameron Bodenstab spray-painted “whites only” on a water fountain at their rivals’ school. They are spending their final days of high school facing charges for a racist crime. They are facing felony vandalism charges for their stupidity.
The Arlington, TX NAACP tweeted a picture of the offending graffiti:
In 2016, this is happening. We hope that @ArlingtonISD investigates & enforces policies soon. @NAACP @CornellWBrooks pic.twitter.com/FSxjvhU4ht
— Arlington, TX NAACP (@ArlingtonNAACP) May 25, 2016
These guys also spray painted “trans only” on a men’s restroom at the high school.
Arlington Police Lt. Christopher Cook had this to say about the incident:
“They’re pretty remorseful. I don’t think that they gave a lot of thought into the ramifications. Unfortunately, you’re held accountable and there’s consequences when you engage in this behavior.”
These students could spend up to a year in jail for this hate crime. They also spray painted some very adult language on athletics banners and trash cans near the school gymnasium. I’m sure this will look great on their college applications.
This is not the worst hate crime we have had this year. In early April, a white student at a Catholic school in Mississippi sent a threatening, racist video to a black student. The video included a noose. One person in the video said “you must die, motherf*cker.” An attorney for the victim, said this in response to someone saying it may have been a joke:
“When has bullying ever been a joke? When has a death threat ever been a joke? Right now, with everything going on (nationally), what were they waiting for, for someone to die? The fact is that people are hurt. People are scared.”
In late April, there was a student at a college in Tennessee who hung up rainbow nooses around his campus. He said he didn’t understand the symbolism behind it, but that seems unlikely. Supposedly it was an “art project.”
Hopefully, these students will learn their lessons and not spread racist hate speech again.
Featured image via Taymaz Valley via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
