‘Horseplaying’: Maryland School Downplays Black Boy, 7, Being ‘Hung’ By Fellow Student In Bathroom

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There is outrage in a Southern Maryland community after a local elementary school downplayed one of its students allegedly trying to hang a Black classmate by his neck in what seems glaringly similar to an attempted lynching, complete with alleged racist language.

The incident resulted in the 7-year-old victim being hospitalized.

C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School in Charles County issued a statement trying to minimize the situation as “horseplaying” during the encounter on Friday in a school bathroom, while the victim’s mother penned an angry Instagram post in response to her son’s attempted hanging that went viral.

“My child who is a second grader was hung in the boys’ bathroom by a fourth grader,” the mother wrote on social media before adding later: I’m feeling anger and seeing red, but my son is here by the grace of GOD, and I will forever be thankful!”

The second-grader’s mother also described her son’s injuries from the ordeal.

“If you look at my son, he has marks under his eyes, like blood vessels, he still has bruises on his neck from being choked,” she added before emphasizing: “He’s traumatized. It’s going to take time. This is not something he’s going to just get over overnight.”

C. Paul Barnhart Elementary School Principal Carrie Burke shared a statement with much less urgency than the student’s mother.

Burke described a situation that unfolded by accident and used the term “horseplaying” to refer to the students’ actions.

“Two of our students were reportedly horseplaying in a school bathroom when one student’s jacket got caught on a stall door hook,” Burke wrote on Saturday in a note addressed to parents, guardians and school staff. “The student was not able to free themselves and the other student involved was also not able to help them. This student left the bathroom to seek help from staff and reported the incident to administrators. Administrators responded and were able to assist, but staff called 911 for additional precautionary medical support.”

Burke then introduced the idea of the incident being “a possible suicide attempt” that was compounded after the victim’s mother wrote her Instagram post, “causing a bit of community concern.”

Burke added that her note to the school community was meant “to dispel any inaccurate information beginning to circulate.”

The victim’s mother responded to Burke’s note incredulously saying the explanation doesn’t make any sense.

“If you’re horse playing, how do you get caught on a hook? Like we need answers, I want answers, and we won’t stop till we get answers,” the mother wrote while also claiming there was a racial element to the incident.

“My son did tell me that when they were in the bathroom, he said the little boy told him ‘I’m going to show you how I did people back in the day,’ that’s why I feel like it’s bullying,” his mother told WUSA9 News. “It’s not telling how many other kids this has happened to.”

The school district continued to do damage control on Sunday by releasing another statement in part insisting that neither it nor Burke “are hiding anything” and that investigations into the incident by the school and local police are ongoing.

The incident in Charles County could have serious legal implications if a similar situation in Massachusetts is any indication.

Last year, John Sheeran, a white teen in Cape Cod, was charged with attempted murder for allegedly attempting to drown a Black boy while another white teen called the victim “George Floyd.” One of the white teens allegedly “picked up a stone, threatened the victim with it” and called him the N-word. According to the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office, the Black boy put on a life jacket and told the two white teens he couldn’t swim. When all three of the boys entered the water, the alleged suspect grabbed the Black child’s life jacket and forced him underwater multiple times. 

In that case, Sheeran’s lawyer told the Boston Globe that the charges his client was facing are “over the top” for what amounted to “horseplaying” that “got out of control.”

Sound familiar?

This is America.

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