NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A group of intruders joined a Zoom session of an advanced placement class at Newton South High School and proceeded to send “vile, hate-filled images and speech” to the students and teacher, according to the principal.
“He brought in about 30 more people and after bringing in 30 more people that that’s when it all took off with racism and all that vulgar stuff,” high school senior Sam Qian explained.
The students said that racist slurs were shouted at them.
“All we could hear was just racial slurs and derogatory remarks and hundred of comments about coronavirus,” high school senior Joshua Liu said.
The incident was immediately reported and in a letter to parents and guardians, Newton South Principal Joel Stembridge said this “traumatic” experience was “clearly racist, hateful, and horrible.”
“To be clear, an attack on members of our NSHS Asian-American community is an attack on all of us,” he wrote.
School officials notified the police and are working with the teacher and students involved to gather more information.
Initial reports indicate that the suspects were likely not from Newton but Stembridge says this could change as an investigation continues.
The school’s information technology department is working to increase security and secure virtual classrooms.
“This is a trying time for all of us, and events such as these underscore the fragility of this new environment in which we are working,” Stembridge said. “We’ll have more work to do to ensure that we can continue to support students and build a safe, connected online community.”
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