Teen Charged With Sending Swastika Image To Other Students At Oak Park And River Forest H.S.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 14-year-old student at Oak Park and River Forest High School has been charged with sending an image of a swastika to other students during an assembly last week.
School officials said students were gathered in the auditorium for a "Tradition of Excellence" assembly Friday morning, when someone "air-dropped" the image of a swastika to students' phones. AirDrop is a feature on Apple mobile devices that allows users to share files with other Apple users.
Authorities identified the person who sent the image as a 14-year-old student. Police said the student has been charged with dissemination of an obscene image.
The student is due to appear in Cook County Juvenile Court on Wednesday.
The incident came on the heels of two cases of racist graffiti at the school.
Racist rants including "all n-----s need to die," the words "white power," "death to blacks and Muslims," and "gas the Jews" were found at the school Monday night. A swastika was also part of the graffiti.
According to published reports, an African American teacher was targeted last week with a racist message including the phrases "F*** dancing n*****" and "white power," along with two swastikas.
School officials said extra police presence has been deployed on campus.
"We are fully invested in protecting the physical and emotional safety of our students and staff, and we are using every resource at our disposal to protect them," Sullivan stated.
Oak Park River Forest High School was the subject of a documentary shot three years ago. The film, "America to Me," reveals two different worlds for white and black students at the school.
"We have worked diligently to address that and I think that if you talk to any of our student leaders, they will tell you that they see things changing," School District 200 Superintendent Joylnn Pruitt-Adams said at the time.
Last year the Anti Defamation League reported that antisemitic messages in K-12 schools were up 94 percent nationwide.