DANVERS, MASS. (WHDH) - Danvers High School on Tuesday announced that all wrestling team activities have been suspended until further notice after a team member’s alleged use of racist language led to a fight with another student.
The fight occurred on school grounds last week and a video from three years ago sparked the conflict, Danvers High School said in a statement.
“One member of the current wrestling team used racist language and another student confronted that student,” the high school said. “The result of that confrontation was a physical altercation.”
A preliminary investigation into the alleged incident revealed other concerns related to the team, including group Snapchat messages containing references to hazing, as well as hateful and biased language, the school noted.
While the school said it believes that not all team members are active participants in the Snapchat group, all team activities will remain shut down pending the outcome of an investigation.
“The incident serves as an important reminder for students and families to review their use of social media and cellphones,” the school added. “We must continue to strive toward creating a respectful community in which everyone belongs.”
This comes about a month after the high school’s hockey team was publically accused of participating in racist and homophobic hazing incidents last year.
Since then, some parents have been speaking out at meetings to express their displeasure with how the school has handled those alleged incidents.
“I just can’t believe it’s another team. Sometimes it’s a one off situation, but to see it happen to more teams, it’s sad,” said Kristen Tarallo who lives in town.
Danvers police are assisting school officials with the investigation into this latest allegation.
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