HOUSTON – A local activist said he believes a Memorial High School student, who is African, was targeted and attacked by five white students due to his race.
On Tuesday afternoon, Quanell X told reporters outside the school that the teen allegedly received racial threats on social media before he was jumped. He said the teen suffered a concussion.
The victim’s mother claims there was an argument between her son and the group of males that led up to the altercation.
“They posted this before they lured him across the street: ‘black man hanging from a tree, I’ll hang your ass, on the spot,'” said Quanell X, reading from a paper on which a screenshot of the post had been printed.
The local activist said there was an image of a black man hanging from the tree. He read more posts.
“One student posted, 'What’s good little n***** talk s*** get ganged,'” read Quanell X. “'Once we kill him, we’ll throw him off a top.’ Look at this, they’re talking about killing this kid and what they would do with his body after they killed the kid,” Quanell X said.
He said the student has special needs and has a speech disorder.
Quanell X said school administrators did not protect the teen and claims the others were not disciplined.
“One black kid lured across the street and jumped by at least five white boys. We know for a fact three of them are still in school till this day and two others were allowed to transfer,” Quanell X said. “They have separated her son, put him in ISS (in-school suspension) for the fight. The only black kid that was jumped by five white kids, he’s in ISS. None of them are in ISS, not one.”
Spring Branch Independent School District said it can’t comment on specifics but said in a statement:
“On Feb. 8, Memorial High School experienced a substantial disruption of the school environment due to social media posts which frightened many students and parents. The campus has and will continue to respond to the situation according to the requirements of state and federal law and the SBISD student code of conduct. The District reported the information received to the FBI and is collaborating with the FBI on this matter. The District must protect the confidentiality of all students and this situation is no different, so the District is not able to respond with facts to set the record straight about all the circumstances."