Community outraged after middle school girl attacked on camera at Riverside middle school
A community is outraged after video showing a middle school girl getting attacked on camera at Arizona Middle School in Riverside has gone viral, with many raising concerns over whether their children are safe at school.
"I see this video, my heart drops. I'm mad. I'm upset."
Jasmin is talking about the jarring video that has recently been circulating on social media, showing the moments that her 12-year-old daughter is brutally beaten on camera last Wednesday, March 11 as school got out for the day.
"She's still in a lot of pain," Jasmin said. "She doesn't eat. She doesn't sleep."
The family filed a police report later that evening.
"A disciplinary process has started and some actions have already taken, but because these involve juveniles, the school is not able to tell the other parent what exactly they did," said Riverside Police Department Officer Ryan Railsback.
An officer has been assigned to the case in the meantime, and Railsback says they will be submitting charges for misdemeanor battery against the juvenile suspect.
That message was echoed in a message sent by the Alvord Unified School District, which said in part:
"The school has followed all appropriate rules and regulations governing student discipline. Furthermore, the police will be submitting the criminal case for prosecution."
The girl's father, Manuel, says that he believes the attack was planned.
"In one video you can see the kids egging her on," he said. "I feel like they should be punished as well."
On top of that, they want to make sure that their daughter and other children are safe at school with full-time security.
Police say that there's already a resource officer assigned to the campus, but they're also assigned to a cluster of other district campuses in the surrounding area.
"They took it like a simple fight," Jasmin said. "I want to make it clear that we're not going to sweep this under the rug."
The family says that their daughter is being homeschooled during a 14-day period for the investigation, but they're not sure if they'll be sending her back on campus once that time period reaches its end.
