BOSTON (WHDH) - The Bruins have signed defenseman Mitchell Miller, 20, to an entry-level contract, two years after he was let go from a contract with the Arizona Coyotes after he admitted to bullying a Black student in his Ohio middle school with developmental disabilities.
Police reports filed in Sylvania, Ohio, show that as a 14-year-old, Miller was found delinquent in juvenile court on charges of assault and violating the state’s Safe Schools Act. He was found guilty of bullying a developmentally disabled Black classmate, calling him racist names and forcing him to eat a piece of candy he and another child had wiped along the inside of a urinal.
Speaking to 7NEWS, the victim’s mother said it was not the only time her son was targeted by Miller.
“He ruined our son – our son will never mentally be OK,” Joni Meyer-Crothers said. “And that’s because of Mitchell, that’s at the hands of Mitchell. Mitchell did that to our son and then to have no remorse for it? It’s like he’s given all of this stuff for being a bully? That makes no sense to me.”
At the time of the incident, the mother of the student told police that her son, 14 at the time, functioned at the level of a 10-year-old mentally. She had originally been told by the school’s assistant principal that Miller and another student were picking on her son, Isaiah, including “urinating on a push pop (lollipop) and having Isaiah lick it.”
The mother also reported the boys had picked on her son since the second grade, calling him a racial slur and using other racialized stereotypical insults against him. She said that her son didn’t tell his parents about the incidents because the students, including Mitchell “are considered the popular kids.”
“When I was in eighth grade, I made an extremely poor decision and acted very immaturely,” said Miller in a statement shared by the Bruins on Friday. “I bullied one of my classmates. I deeply regret the incident and have apologized to the individual. Since the incident, I have come to better understand the far-reaching consequences of my actions that I failed to recognize and understand nearly seven years ago.”
In a statement, Bruins President Cam Neely said that, prior to signing Mitchell, “our Hockey Operations and Community Relations groups spent time with him over the last few weeks to better understand who he is as an individual and learn more about a significant mistake he made when he was in middle school.”
Neely said that Mitchell was “accountable” for his actions and committed to working with “multiple organizations and professionals” to use the experience as “a teachable moment.”
Under his entry-level contract, Mitchell will report to the Providence Bruins.
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