Three Middletown Middle students charged with hate crimes in racist social media posts

Mar. 10—Three Middletown Middle School 8th grade students pictured in threatening, anti-Black social media posts are facing hate crime charges, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office announced at a press conference early Thursday evening.

One of the students — all of whom are under 16 — will also be charged with possessing a firearm as a minor, said Lt. Jason Deater, who commands the county sheriff's school resource officer unit.

The sheriff's investigation into the social media posts is ongoing, Deater said, and the office will consult with the Juvenile Division of the Frederick County State Attorney's Office if it determines more charges are needed. He emphasized how significant the charge of a hate crime is — in his 19 years with the sheriff's office, he said, he's only seen such a charge issued one or two times.

Police and FCPS officials responded Wednesday morning to threats that reportedly targeted Black Middletown Middle students that were found on the social media platforms Instagram and Snapchat.

The images, depicting multiple youths holding what appear to be firearms, bore messages that indicated the children would shoot Black people and included racial slurs. Police later determined two of the firearms depicted in the images were fake, Deater said, though one of the firearms — a handgun — was real.

At the press conference, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins stressed the first priority of his office is the safety of every student at Middletown Middle School.

"We can't and we won't tolerate these types of threats or messages that disrupt or breed fear in our communities," he said. "Let me be very clear: The students responsible will face some serious consequences."

The students involved were sent home Wednesday and won't be in the building the rest of the week, Eric Louérs-Phillips, Frederick County Public Schools director of public affairs, said Thursday morning outside Middletown Middle.

Disciplinary actions from FCPS are forthcoming, Louérs-Phillips said at Thursday's press conference, and will follow the completion of the sheriff's investigation.

He urged students and their families not to repost the images in question. Doing so only re-traumatizes those who view them and is unacceptable and unhelpful, he said.

"This is not a school system issue," he added. "This is a community issue. We cannot tolerate hate speech as a community. And it requires all of us pointing the finger at ourselves to examine what we are doing to make sure we prevent these types of things from happening."

Middletown Middle School, which has nearly 800 students, is mostly white, with about 25 Black or African American students, according to Maryland State Department of Education data.

According to a Wednesday press release from the sheriff's office, the students suspected to be involved in the racist photos were interviewed privately with their parents or guardians. Police said they searched the students' bedrooms and accounted for all firearms.

At Thursday's press conference, Jenkins asked parents to pay closer attention to what their children are posting on social media and told them they have the right to take their devices away. He also called on the county's Board of Education to consider a policy prohibiting or heavily restricting the use of cell phones and electronic devices in the school or classroom during the school day.

"These incidents have disrupted classes, learning, education as a whole, not to mention alarming the parents and the communities," he said, referencing events that took place last week at Ballenger Creek Middle School and Urbana High School that police believe were related to challenges on the video sharing social media app TikTok.

On March 4, Urbana High School was evacuated after a student allegedly brought bleach to school with the intention of making mustard gas. A day later, Ballenger Creek Middle School was evacuated and five students and a staff member were sent to the hospital after an irritant was released into the air.

"I think the public should realize the amount of time, manpower and resources of law enforcement and public safety that are spent on these types of threats every time they occur," Jenkins said. "We can't continue this pace. We're expending our resources, we're wearing our people out and again, this is all in my mind preventable."

Middletown rally against racism

In response to the racist social media posts, the Middletown Middle School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) is organizing a rally to stand against racism and violence, to be held at 7:15 a.m. Friday outside the school.

PTSA president Yanira Gordon, who is Latina, said she was horrified by the images — but not surprised. She is a substitute teacher and parent to elementary and middle school students.

The type of hate speech seen in the images is in the everyday vernacular of some students, according to Gordon, whose middle school daughter has frequently heard such language used.

"Yesterday's images were probably the most egregious that I've seen," Gordon said Thursday morning during student drop-off. "This behavior is abhorrent."

Gordon hopes the Middletown community can take back the narrative and show it doesn't tolerate racism.

"The school can only do so much," Gordon said. "It starts with us."

Louérs-Phillips echoed the sentiment.

"It does require all of us," he said.

Tearing up as she spoke about the situation, Gordon expressed how much the community means to her. She said she'd rather see images of love spread online, rather than those of hate.

She described the majority of students in the building as "great kids," and said she doesn't have hate for the students in the images.

"The action is what we hate," Gordon said. "They're our children."

Middletown Middle parent Cari Yarmus was also not surprised when she learned of the images.

Yarmus attended the PTSA meeting Wednesday — which was scheduled before the incident came to light — where the idea for the rally took shape.

"We want to be actively anti-racist," she said.

Yarmus, who is white, said her children's friends of color aren't strangers to hate speech.

With the rally on the horizon, Yarmus expressed hope that people of color in the community will see they have support. Rally details can be found on the Middletown Middle School PTSA Facebook page.

Heading into Thursday, Louérs-Phillips said Middletown staff were given language to help them talk about the situation with students. He said staff have training to discuss such matters in an unbiased way. Louérs-Phillips noted the support staff sent to the school in response to the incident are a diverse group, so students can hopefully find a person they identify with to talk to.

With the racist posts continuing to circulate online, Louérs-Phillips said FCPS disabled Facebook comments on their post about the incident to prevent people from spreading the images and causing further harm.

"We cannot be the host," he said. "Report it, but do not repost it," he said.

The sheriff's office asks those who received the photos directly from the suspects to contact FCSO SRO Deputy 1st Class Andy Smothers at 301-600-7138 or ASmothers@frederickcountymd.gov. The suspects are being treated as juveniles, according to FCSO, so their names will not be publicized.

Follow Mary Grace Keller on Twitter: @MaryGraceKeller