No criminal charges against area students involved in racist Snapchat group

Brendan Quealy, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·1 min read

May 5—TRAVERSE CITY — No criminal charges will be filed against the teenagers involved in a racist social media group that spurred community outrage two weeks ago.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Noelle Moeggenberg issued a press release Wednesday afternoon explaining the decision while denouncing the actions as "repulsive, racist and discriminatory."

The Snapchat account called "Slave Trade" included a mock slave auction in which photos of Black students were posted in the chat and then other students bid on how much they would pay to buy the student as a slave. It also included threats of murder against an LGBTQ person as well as calls for the genocide of all Black people and a renewal of the Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews.

The six students involved in the chat were minors; five from Grand Traverse County and one who lives outside of Michigan.

Moeggenberg explained the messages in the chat, while reprehensible, were not criminal because they were "not intended to communicate a threat nor were they intended to place another in fear." The lack of intent, Moeggenberg said, was clear from those interviewed and the messages, which were never meant to be shared outside of the group.

"The lack of criminal charges should not be seen in any way as condoning the behavior," Moeggenberg said. "It is merely an application of law as it applied to the facts of this case."

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