A video of an apparent attack at a Central Ohio high school goes viral, bringing outrage from all over the nation.
By: Cabot Rea Published: November 02, 2011
Updated: November 02, 2011 - 3:49 PM
ROSS COUNTY, Ohio -- A video of an apparent attack at a Central Ohio high school goes viral, bringing outrage from all over the nation.
The video was recorded at Unioto High School last month and apparently shows a 15-year-old who is assaulted allegedly because of his sexual orientation.
The teen's mother, Rebecca Collins, claimed her son was ambushed in a social studies classroom while others watched. He suffered a broken tooth, black eye, other contusions and a possible concussions.
Collins told NBC4 the ACLU has taken the case and advised her not to give any more interviews.
But those passionate about the issues of bullying and hate crimes targeting people who are gay, lesbian and transgender are talking.
"I was absolutely horrified and shocked," said Equality Ohio Executive Director Ed Mullen.
Mullen has worked all over the United States, and told NBC4 he believes the incident could come under federal hate crime law – though the teen suspect may be too young for prosecution.
Three anti-bullying bills currently sit in the Ohio Legislature that include new provisions for those targeted for their sexual identities, toughen penalties and extend coverage to cyber-bullying.
"An event like this is going to move legislation forward," Mullen said.
Mullen said, "When Matthew Shepherd was killed in Wyoming, that lead to federal hate crime laws. It didn't happen immediately, but eventually when people see this, they don't see a gay student … they see a person being beaten, and I think that is what's going to change a lot of people's minds, including people in the legislature."
NBC4 spoke to Ross County Prosecutor Matt Schmidt who said he was meeting with Collins. He said he has been gathering evidence and medical reports before determining the severity of charges to file. Those charges could come as early as Thursday.
For additional information, stay with NBC4 and refresh nbc4i.com. To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.
Columbus Dispatch
Story is here
Ross County youth charged in school assault
Online petition gains steam after assaults in Chillicothe, Westerville
A 15-year-old Ross County boy was charged this morning with a delinquency count of assault in the videotaped beating of a fellow high-school student that sparked fresh calls to protect gay kids from bullying.Unioto High School student Levi Sever will appear later in juvenile court to answer to the charge filed by the office of Prosecutor Matthew Schmidt following an investigation by the sheriff's office. Schmidt was not available for comment this morning.
Sever is accused of assaulting 15-year-old Zachary Huston at the high school on Oct. 17, with the victim's mother contending he was targeted because he is gay. The case has captured national attention.
“A lot of people feel the outrage but don’t always know how to make their voices heard,” said Bret Thompson, a Columbus man leading an online petition drive in the wake of the attack.
Meanwhile, a second bullying incident — this time in a Westerville school — also is being called an anti-gay attack. In that case, the victim isn’t gay but reportedly has a sister who is a lesbian.
As of yesterday, more than 6,000 people had joined a campaign on Change.org to urge the Union-Scioto school district in Ross County to change its anti-bullying policy to address sexual orientation and gender identity. The current policy says harassment is not allowed for any reason.
The district’s Facebook page is peppered with comments from people who object to the district’s handling of the incident.
“We can’t expect kids to get a quality education if they’re worried about their physical safety every day,” Thompson said.
Equality Ohio, a statewide gay-rights advocacy organization, said dozens of people have called or emailed the office asking how to help.
Many have shared their own experiences of humiliation and violence, said Kim Welter, director of programs and outreach at Equality Ohio. “They wrote out their stories,” she said.
Equality Ohio also issued a news release late yesterday concerning the Westerville situation, saying a male freshman at Westerville South High School was attacked on Tuesday by another student who punched him repeatedly in the head, using a slur about sexual orientation. Equality Ohio said the victim’s sister is a lesbian. The injured student was taken by his family to the hospital.
The Westerville school district is investigating the incident.
Greg Viebranz, spokesman for the district, said school officials broke up the assault, and he initially said there was no mention of a gay slur being used. The district learned of that allegation from Equality Ohio, Viebranz said.
The Westerville school district does have an anti-bullying policy that includes specific language prohibiting harassment because of sexual orientation. The Union-Scioto school district does not.
In the Ross County case, according to a sheriff’s office report, deputies were called to Unioto High School after a Sever allegedly repeatedly punched and threw Huston to the floor. He appeared bruised and scratched, and his mother came to the school.
Another student made a cell-phone video of the attack, which has been shown in local and national news reports. In it, no one appears to help the boy who’s being hit.
Huston's mother, Rebecca Collins, told investigators that she thinks the attack is “a hate crime” because her son is gay.
“When you’ve been tortured for two years, by people in your school, then there’s no doubt in my mind,” she told The Dispatch in an interview yesterday.
The sheriff’s report also says that Collins provided deputies with numerous Facebook messages that had been posted about her son before the attack.
But the witnesses heard no comments about the victim being gay during the assault, the school principal told deputies after he spoke to witnesses.
Union-Scioto schools Superintendent Dwight Garrett said his district has a zero-tolerance approach toward any form of harassment, including cyberbullying. He said the district’s policy complies with state anti-bullying law.
“We had a bad situation happen. We’re doing the best we can. We want all children to be protected. There’s a problem nationwide with things like this,” he said.
Garrett said that Collins had reported what she perceived as nonphysical bullying of her son on previous occasions, but she hadn’t previously filed a complaint about the student accused of attacking her son.
The student was disciplined based on his admission that he committed the assault, with the discipline “revisited” once school officials saw the video that shows the student apparently launching the assault without provocation.
Citing privacy laws, Garrett declined to detail what suspension or punishment the student received.
State law requires schools to adopt policies prohibiting harassment, intimidation and bullying of students while spelling out procedures on how to respond to incidents, including strategies to protect bullied students from retaliation if they report incidents.
However, the law contains no wording expressly prohibiting bullying based on the “actual or perceived traits” of students. State Rep. Michael Stinziano, D-Columbus, seeks to change that in House Bill 208.
Stinziano’s proposed legislation would require anti-bullying policies to prohibit harassment based on race, religion, ethnic background, physical attributes, disabilities and other factors, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
The explicit language would heighten sensitivity and take an “extra step toward making sure all schoolchildren have a safe environment,” Stinziano said.
The Ohio School Boards Association thinks current law is adequate because it already forbids all forms of bullying.
“The effort should be to really reinforce with teachers and administrators that the law applies to all situations,” said Damon Asbury, the association’s director of legislative services.
Thompson, who says he heard about the incident through Equality Ohio, thinks the law needs to spell out protection for everyone. “There have just been so many instances,” he said. “People are bullied because of their sexual orientation.”
Dispatch reporter Jim Woods contributed to this story. rprice@dispatch.com rludlow@dispatch.com
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