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From: FreeMix Radio <freemixradio@voxunion.com><br><br>
BLACK DEAF STUDENT VICTIM OF RACIST ATTACK: Student has "KKK"
and <br>
swastikas scrawled on his chest while tied up.<br>
October 5, 2007<br><br>
*A black student at a secondary school for
the hearing <br>
impaired in Washington D.C. was held against his will and marked
<br>
with racist comments during an incident last weekend.<br><br>
The words "KKK" and swastikas
were drawn on the skin of the <br>
deaf victim, who was tied up for about 45 minutes before being
<br>
released, according to Metro Police Chief Cathy Lanier. He quickly
<br>
notified dorm and school authorities, who called police.<br><br>
Police have identified and
interviewed the students involved <br>
and the "investigation is ongoing," Lanier said Wednesday. As
of <br>
press time, no charges had been filed, and no names have been <br>
released. The incident, however, could result in criminal charges
<br>
with "enhanced penalties for a hate crime," said
Lanier.<br><br>
Trouble started brewing when a group of
black students and a <br>
group of white students began rough-housing in a dorm. "My
<br>
understanding is the two groups engaged in friendly
horseplay," <br>
Lanier said. But, she added, the groups got "angry with each
other."<br><br>
The two groups separated, she said,
but later, six white <br>
students and one black student -- all between the ages of 15 and 19
<br>
-- took one of the black students into a dorm room and "held
him <br>
there against his will."<br><br>
"They used markers to write
'KKK' and draw swastikas on the <br>
student," Lanier said. They also tied up his hands so he was
unable <br>
to communicate in sign language.<br><br>
The residential high school is located on
the campus of <br>
Gallaudet University, a higher education facility for deaf and hard
<br>
of hearing people. The high school is administered as a division of
<br>
the university's Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center.<br><br>
Dean of Clerc Center Katherine A.
Jankowski said the seven <br>
students who participated in the incident were sent home. Gallaudet
<br>
provost Stephen Weiner said the school does "not tolerate any
<br>
action, behavior of this type."<br><br>
"We are taking action," he
said. "We are looking at programs <br>
to help students understand we are a school with a diverse <br>
population. …This incident is intolerable. That's why the Metro
<br>
police are involved. That's how serious we are about this
incident."<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
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