'Confederate Lives Matter' Posts Will Not Bring Criminal Charges

HARWOOD, MD — Taunts reportedly made against a bullied transgender Harwood student that included the phrase "Confederate Lives Matter" and KKK images are not crimes, and charges will not be filed, Anne Arundel County authorities have determined. Students allegedly posted comments about the victim's gender status, along with images that appear to show KKK-style hoods, on Snapchat in October.

A group of students at Southern High School in Harwood posted the threats on the social media app under the name Confederate Lives Matter. The teen's father told the Capital-Gazette newspaper that at least two students threatened via Snapchat messages to hurt his 15-year-old son. One of the posts showed a student wearing what appears to be a KKK-like hood made from paper towels.

The State's Attorney's Office determined no crime occurred because both students took part in the Snapchat exchange, the newspaper reports, and the victim never told the alleged bully to stop.

Principal Kathryn Feuerherd emailed Southern students and their families about the incident in early November. "I want to be very clear that we have taken — and continue to take — this issue very seriously," Feuerherd said. "These posts do not reflect the values of character and integrity we hold for our school and greater school community."

Anne Arundel County Police told Patch that the Southern student was a victim of bullying, which was addressed by school officials. Then police received a complaint that someone spit or threw water on the teenage victim, which officers investigated.

The victim believes one of the students involved in the previous anti-transgender social media posts entitled "Confederate Lives Matter" was the person who spit/threw the water on the victim, said police spokesman Marc Limansky.

Photo courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police