Hampden County District Attorney Anthony Gulluni says several 8th grade students at Southwick Regional School will face charges for their roles in an alleged racist online bullying incident.
"There is no question that the alleged behavior in this case, of these six juveniles, is vile, cruel, and contemptible,” he told reporters during a news conference Thursday.
During his announcement, the district attorney detailed the charges, as well as the timeline of his office’s own investigation.
According to Gulluni, it was in the late hours of Thursday, Feb. 8, when a group of Southwick students, ages 13 and 14, allegedly took part in a Snapchat conversation.
During the conversation, which stretched into 3 a.m. on Friday, several students uttered what the DA says were hateful, racist comments, including “notions of violence toward people of color.”
In addition to posting slurs and derogatory images, some allegedly held a mock slave auction directed at two of their fellow students.
One of those students was the daughter of Southwick resident Allyson Lopez, who voiced her frustration with the school district for its handling of the case during a school committee meeting on March 5.
“Why are the students back in school? Why is there no accountability?” Lopez asked of the committee in front of residents, as well as members of the Greater Springfield Chapter of the NAACP, which had also called attention to the alleged bullying. “How are they back in school in 48 hours and my baby’s staying home for three weeks? How is that possible? How do you think that's OK?”
Lopez said at least ten students were involved in the incident, and that eight returned to school soon after the incident.
According to Gulluni, the Snapchat conversation was reported that Friday, and by the following Monday, multiple students were suspended per state law.
Of those suspended, two faced suspensions for at least 25 days, and another student faced a suspension lasting as long as 45, the DA said.
Gulluni's office later became directly involved, leading to an investigation, as well as coordination with the Southwick Police Department.
Of the students charged, the district attorney says all six face a charge of threat to commit a crime. Two students face an additional charge of interference with civil rights, while one of the two also faces a third charge of witness interference.
“With this, I intend to be very clear - hatred and racism have no place in this community,” the district attorney said. “And where this behavior becomes criminal, I will ensure that we act, and act with swift resolve as we did here - to uncover it and bring it to the light of justice."
Gulluni says that due to the age of the suspects and the fact that all proceedings will be handled by the juvenile court system, he could not offer any other details on the accused.
He went on to outline other actions being taken by his office, including his Community Safety and Outreach Unit handing out curriculum materials in Southwick that focus on addressing racism and bullying.
He also says he reached out to the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and says the two offices have formed a “promising partnership” to create a program to address and remediate bigotry and bullying in schools.
Establishing a community task force addressing racism was also a goal put forward by Jennifer Willard, superintendent of the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District.
Willard mentioned the idea during the same school committee meeting in which Lopez called on her to resign.
The superintendent declined to comment after the meeting on March 5 ended, but school committee chair Robert Stevenson told WAMC that as the district moves forward, it needs all stakeholders to step up to make a difference.
“I know that our administration and our school committee and our teachers are focused on trying to do everything they can to try to decrease these types of situations, but we can't do it alone,” he said. “We need the parents. We need the kids. We need the community to help us to be able to achieve this.”
WAMC has requested comment from Willard’s office regarding the latest development.
