LA County Teenager Alleges They Were Beaten, Called Racial Slurs Before Stabbing Attempt

The teenager's mother also believes that the school's inaction regarding what happened to her son is what led to the stabbing incident on Dec. 9

A 14-year-old Black teenager is taking legal action after he was allegedly attacked and called racial slurs for months by schoolmates at Verdugo Hills High School before being arrested following a stabbing incident at the school earlier in December.

According to CBS News, the student’s attorney, Brad Gage, shared a video of the teenager being assaulted in a bathroom in late August. Following that incident, school officials met with his mother.

“Make no mistake about it, this is a case of racism. It’s the school’s failure to act properly in August and September that led to a stabbing in December,” Gage told the outlet.

The teen’s mother said that what bothered her the most was the school pretending that nothing happened to her son.

“They don’t care,” she told CBS News. “They didn’t do nothing to the other kid, and that’s what I’m most upset about. They just sat there and did nothing.”

She continued, “The school wanted to force my child out right after the incident of him being jumped in the bathroom. They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards the students who caused the problem itself. They didn’t do anything, so I said no. My son is going to stay here, he’s doing well.”

The teenager’s mother also believes that the school’s inaction regarding what happened to her son is what led to the stabbing incident on Dec. 9.

As a result of what happened to her son, she is fearful of allowing him to return to the school, even after the legal situation is resolved.

“My son is a good, smart kid,” she said. “My son was in a situation where he could’ve been killed. I still feel like he can be killed because he can’t come back over here because of everything that’s been going on.”

According to his lawyers, there are very few Black students who attend Verdugo Hills, and nearly from the first day of classes, their client was targeted by several Latinx students who called him racial slurs, attacked him, and threatened to stab him.

Gage recounted the events to CBS News, “At some point, others that are part of the group or gang; they come and chase our client with a big butcher knife — trying to kill him.”

Gage indicated that his client was just trying to defend himself when two of his attackers ended up being stabbed and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

As a result of his actions, the teen was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, per the Los Angeles Police Department.

Gage filed a government claim, which must be filed ahead of a lawsuit, against Verdugo Hills High School and the school district for failing to protect the teenager from the harm that came his way on Dec. 9.

In 2023, David Malakai Allen chronicled his own experience with racist harassment and hostility across the country at the Newark School of Global Studies.

Like the incident at Verdugo Hills High School, as Allen wrote for Chalkbeat, nothing happened when incidents of racism were brought to the school’s administration.

“This wasn’t the first time Black students at Global Studies had been subject to harassment and abuse. Reports, both written and verbal, had been filed, but nothing seemed to change. And this time around was no different,” Allen recalled.

He continued, “In January of this year, the Newark Board of Education commissioned a review of the racial and cultural climate at Global Studies. While the report has not been publicly released, some of its recommendations have been. According to the report, the Newark district must look at how ‘anti-Blackness and other deficit beliefs’ impact its schools. It also calls for Newark Public Schools to create spaces for difficult conversations about race and help school staff identify and fill “cultural gaps” in their practices. While this is hardly a solution, I hope that it results in a safer and more inclusive environment for everyone.”