Civil Rights Complaint Filed Against Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Ex-Superintendent

A civil rights group has filed another federal complaint over the highly  in which two white members of the Santa Monica High School wrestling team are accused of harassing a black member of the team.

The complaint was filed in U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte's Central district office by Najee Ali, director of the Los Angeles-based Project Islamic HOPE, last week. It names the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, outgoing Superintendent Tim Cuneo and former Santa Monica High School Principal Dr. Hugo Pedroza.

Previously, Ali filed a complaint against two members of the wrestling team and their coach, Mark Black. He has also called for a federal hate-crimes investigation into the alleged incident. (.)

Cuneo, "along with the principals of Santa Monica H.S. and school officials, had knowledge of the hate crime that was committed," Ali said in his complaint. Cuneo and Pedroza "[delaying] in reporting the hate crime and not notifying the mother of the victim, Victoria Gray, was part of a shameless cover-up of an vicious racist attack and hate crime.

"We now know that police were never called by district officials, although [the officials] had collected student cell phones and deleted photos of the incident. [Aside from] not reporting the crime ... destroying photos [or evidence] is an obstruction of justice and can lead to criminal prosecution."

Ali was one of dozens of people who expressedat a meeting late last month. During his comments, he displayed a noose.

“ by the superintendent’s office, the principal and law enforcement," he said. "It’s a slap in the face of all students who have the potential of being the victims of hate.”

Project Islamic HOPE is a nonprofit national civil rights organization that advocates for the human rights of all oppressed people regardless of race, gender or religion, according to the organization’s website. The acronym stands for "Helping Oppressed People Everywhere."

According to a complaint filed with the Santa Monica Police Department, the white wrestlers used a cable to tie their black teammate to the locker while they yelled, "Slave for sale," and made other racially charged statements. It was also reported that a brown practice mannequin with a noose tied around the neck was found nearby.

The white students could face assault and battery charges for allegedly restraining the black student. Also, the alleged “racial epithets” and undercurrents of the incident “could make it a hate crime.” The incident is currently under investigation.

Santa Monica High School administrators are being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The SMPD previously said there have been allegations that school administrators "had handled the incident unlawfully."

In mid-June, Cuneo publicly apologized to Victoria Gray during a board meeting. He said he felt the district had “erred” in not informing her about the alleged incident.

Cuneo met with Gray before the board meeting and, according to Cuneo, a mass e-mail was sent out explaining the steps the district is taking over the incident, including counseling support and orientation for future freshmen.

“We do not tolerate this on our campus and [we] take it very seriously," Cuneo. "We’ll take every step to make sure that all students are respected on our campus, and we want to promote a positive environment and celebrate diversity."