A white 15-year-old boy at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, Louisiana, has been charged with a hate crime and arrested after tossing cotton balls at a Black student and slapping him with a belt. Video of the incident shows the white freshman attacking the Black student on March 9 after approaching him from behind in the cafeteria, Complex reports.
After the white teen threw cotton balls at the Black student and repeatedly hit him over the head with a belt, the boy who was targeted grabbed the assailant and pushed him backward through a nearby door.
According to People, the white student was booked into the Terrebonne Parish Juvenile Justice Center after being charged with simple battery and a hate crime.
“We will continue to pray for our school community as a whole, that we not only get through this together but that we each learn a valuable lesson from what has taken place,” the parents of the Black student said in a statement, according to People.
In a statement on Facebook, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said the incident does seem to be racially motivated.
”TPSO detectives met with the parents of the victim and an investigation is being conducted. The parents of the victim also met with the school’s administration and they are diligently assisting the parents with addressing this non-acceptable episode,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
According to WWLTV, the teen who was targeted is one of the few Black students at the school.
