A Black teen in Texas was assaulted by a group of high school boys dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan for Halloween, Channel 3News reports.
Matt Manning, the attorney representing the victim said his client was hit with a taser, or taser-like device on Oct. 31 by students dressed as members of the KKK. And according to the attorney, his client was not the only one attacked that night.
“I learned, from multiple sources, that another, even younger victim was terrorized by these depraved menaces that same night,” Manning wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Everyone involved are minors so their identities were not released. However, Manning said the students dressed as members of the KKK are involved in extra-curriculars within the Woodsboro ISD and even played in a football game on Friday night.
“We are demanding an explanation from the Woodsboro HS administration and athletic department for how three players could commit an act of terror, hate, and injury — surely known by coaches and administration to have occurred — yet still be afforded the PRIVILEGE to play football,” Manning wrote in the statement. “It is abhorrent, indefensible, and inexcusable, and we demand answers.”
“We’re not dealing with kids who just happened to get into a fight, we’re not dealing with kids who happened to be engaged in high school Hijinx,” Manning added at a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re talking a specific act of terror where they are emulating the members of a terrorist organization.”
In a statement to Channel 3 News, Woodsboro ISD officials said they are aware that a group of students allegedly dressed in “garb associated with a widely known racial hate group” on Halloween and antagonized another classmate. Officials say they are cooperating with the criminal investigation. Woodsboro ISD say they are unable to discipline the students since the incident occurred off campus.
The incident is being investigated by law enforcement officials including the Texas Rangers.
According to Manning the use of tasers could lead to some serious consequences for those involved.
The taser he said, “constitutes aggravated assault under the penal code in the state of Texas which is a second-degree felony because that is a deadly weapon.” However he noted that things could play out differently since those involved are minors.
Still, the local NAACP has deemed the incident a “hate crime” until further information is revealed, according to the Caller Times.
