Mother of boy bullied by Boston Bruins prospect Mitchell Miller says he has never apologized
BOSTON - The mother of a boy who was abused by Mitchell Miller, a star hockey player signed Friday by the Boston Bruins, says he has never apologized to her son or her family. Miller pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges of racist bullying.
The incidents still haunt the family of Isaiah Meyer-Crothers, who say the bullying and battering went on for years. Joni Meyer-Crothers, Isaiah's mother, told WBZ-TV she is still waiting for a proper apology from Miller.
"He's never reached out to my son, he never reached out to us," Meyer-Crothers said.
Miller was 14 years old when the incident occurred. In a statement that was part of the Bruins' release to announce the signing on Friday, Miller expressed regret over the 2016 incident, calling it "an extremely poor decision."
Meyer-Crothers said her son suffered years of abuse at the hands of Miller and that characterizing it as a mistake dismisses the true horror of what Miller did.
"So, for somebody to refer to it as a mistake, what my son endured, is infuriating," she said.
Miller also said in his statement that he apologized. Meyer-Crothers disputes that, saying Miller only contacted her son last week on Instagram and there was no apology.
"Why did he wait until a week ago when he knew he was being signed to the Bruins? So he didn't get as much flak this time?" Meyer-Crothers said.
Isaiah has fetal alcohol syndrome and is cognitively behind. His adoptive mother says he endured years of bullying and was called racial slurs by Mitchell. She's horrified a professional organization would want him on the team.
"I don't care how talented any player is, he could be the next Wayne Gretzky," Meyer-Crothers said. "But if your player that you're taking doesn't have character and isn't a good human being, then you really might want to rethink what you're doing."
Miller was once drafted by the Arizona Coyotes, only to get dropped when the incident came to light. Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney says signing Mitchell was a difficult team decision.
"I don't want to downplay that this has been a personal struggle as well as a professional struggle as we go through and try to separate the hockey player and the person," Sweeney said. "I might have been the person that picked him up at the airport when he arrived in Boston, I will be the first person to drive him to the airport if anything goes sideways."
Meyer-Crothers said she does believe people can grow and change, but that part of changing is showing true remorse, something she does not feel Miller has done over the last six years.
"Mitchell had to do a court mandated letter, which as a juvenile, the family never gets the letter," Meyer-Crothers said. "But the magistrate when it happened, made it clear that he didn't feel Mitchell had any remorse either."
Meyer-Crothers said another boy involved in the bullying came to their house to apologize, but Miller did not.