Teen Charged After Waving Noose At Black Student [View All]

[matcom]

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MONROE - A Monroe High School student was charged with felony harassment Wednesday for allegedly waving a noose at a black student.

The white student, 17, called the other boy a racial slur and swung the rope back and forth before him in the school's parking lot in October, according to a charge filed in Snohomish County Juvenile Court.

The black student told police he "took that as he wanted to hang me, since I was the only black person there," court records say.

The white student claimed he did not know the black student was present, court documents say.

The black student reported the incident to a Monroe police officer Oct. 27. It was one of at least four racial incidents at the school since classes started in September.

A school security officer confiscated a noose from another student's car Oct. 19. That student said other students also had nooses in their vehicles but kept them in their glove boxes while at school, court documents said.

In mid-September, a Mexican flag was torn down and thrown into a restroom, Monroe School District spokeswoman Rosemary O'Neil said. An argument with "racial undertones" also was reported, she said.

The black student who reported the noose incident also told investigators the white student who threatened him had a racist tattoo on his arm. The boy called him and other black students racial epithets "all the time," court documents say.

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