Students Involved in Snapchat Slave Auction in Big Trouble...and Not Just at School
The spotlight was on a group of 8th graders from a Southwick, Mass. school after they were exposed for an online mock slave auction incident that led parents into outrage. Now, they’re facing a bigger punishment.
Six juveniles will be criminally charged for their alleged roles in “facilitating and participating in a hateful, racist online chat that included heinous language, threats, and a mock slave auction,” according to a statement from the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office.
According to the DA, ,a group of students created a chat on Snapchat in the early morning hours of Feb. 9. The investigation from the Massachusetts State Police found that several students expressed hateful, racist comments in the chat, including but not excluded to “derogatory pictures” and slurs.
Then, of course, the kids held a mock slave auction targeted at two students.
Later that day, the group chat was exposed and reported to Southwick school administrators. By Feb. 12, the school probe into the incident was completed and the students involved were suspended by “emergency removal.” More suspensions followed days later, ranging from between 25 and 45 days out of school, the office said.
Now, the students are facing even more serious consequences.
Read more from Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni:
On Thursday, February 15, The district attorney personally became aware of this incident. The facts that he was given, and the nature of the alleged incident, compelled him to immediately direct members of his office’s Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit to investigate.
Because these charges have been filed in the juvenile court, there are ethical and legal restrictions that prevent the divulging of some information, such as the identities of the individuals involved.
The juveniles have been charged with the following: one juvenile has been charged with: interference with civil rights, threat to commit a crime, and witness interference, one juvenile has been charged with: interference with civil rights and threat to commit a crime, and four other juveniles have each been charged with: threat to commit a crime.
From this incident, the DA’s office has vowed to educate the Southwick school community on hate and bullying through its Community Safety and Outreach Unit. It has also sought partnership with the state attorney general as well as the hate crime unit of the state police department to create a program to address racist incidents like these.
“There is no question that the alleged behavior of these six juveniles is vile, cruel, and contemptible. Seeing it, and facing the reality that these thoughts, that this ugliness, can exist within middle school students, here, in this community, in 2024 is discouraging, unsettling, and deeply frustrating,” Gulluni said. “I look forward with resolve and commitment to enact change and to foster progress in this county.”
