Middle Schooler Faces Hate Crime in Alleged Racial Harassment Caught on Video

A rally is planned for 2:30-3:30 p.m. Friday, April 17, outside Bloomfield Hills Middle School to support a student who was allegedly taunted with racial slurs on a recent school field trip. (Photo via Twitter)

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One of the middle schoolers in a wealthy Detroit suburb who is accused of taunting a classmate with racial slurs during a school field trip may be charged with a hate crime in juvenile court.

Phoenix Williams, 13, the Bloomfield Hills student who was targeted in the alleged harassment, captured video footage on his cell phone, then turned it over to his mother, who alerted school authorities and law enforcement officials.

He is allowing the media to use his name, and the school district said in a statement that it took “courage and strength” for Phoenix “to stand up to incidents of bullying.”

“... We applaud him for this,” the statement continued. “Because of his bravery, school and district administrators were able to act quickly, thoroughly investigating the situation and involving local police.”

Phoenix and his mother, Shanari Williams, filed a harassment charge against the students involved with Bloomfield Township police on March 16.

Oakland County Attorney Jessica Cooper told the Detroit Free Press her office has filed petitions in the juvenile courts for Wayne and Oakland counties, where the two students live.

The petitions ask that one of the Bloomfield Hills Middle School students be charged with ethnic intimidation, and that the other be charged harassment in connection with the alleged harassment. Ethnic intimidation is a hate crime under Michigan Law.

The court has wide latitude about what to do with the citations, and could refer the students to the equivalent of a trial in juvenile court, refer them to treatment or youth assistance programs, or deny the petitions, Cooper said.

Related:

• Student Videotapes Racial Harassment School Calls ‘Egregious’

The students involved in the alleged racial harassment have been disciplined under Bloomfield Hills school policies, but the school district isn’t releasing details because of privacy laws.

The school district said in the statement, posted on the its website, that it will “not not tolerate this kind of behavior” and said officials “have developed a plan of support for this young man to provide a safe environment for him.”

Students, meanwhile, have organized an anti-racism rally from 2:30-3:30 p.m. Friday outside the Bloomfield Hills Middle School, 4200 Quarton Road.

In the meantime, support for Phoenix is showing up on Twitter with the hashtags #JusticeForPhoenix, #PROTESTBLOOMFIELD and #WeAreAllPhoenix, among others.

Spencer Nabors, 16, one of the students who started the #PROTESTBLOOMFIELD hashtag, said she thinks racism is prevailing problem in the district.

“This is not a solo incident. Things like this have happened throughout the district for a while,” Nabors told the Free Press. “We’re hoping that the district will have sensitivity and diversity training.”

Shira Good, a spokeswoman for the school district, said in an email to the Free Press said diversity-related programs are already in place, but the district hopes to offer more training under the DAERR Initiative (Diversity, Academic Equity and Race Relations), Global Champions, and Institute for Healing Racism programs.

A district-wide forum on race issues will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 28 at the Booth Center, 7273 Wing Lake Road.

Some of the tweets supporting Phoenix and condemning racism are found below.