Police say two white girls in upstate New York attacked a little Black girl on a school bus. The bus attendant allegedly stood by and did nothing to stop the assault.
Now, an 11-year-old Gouverneur Middle School student has been charged with a hate crime, reports WWNY 7 News.
“It is probably the most professionally devastating event since I started working at Gouverneur in 1984,” the district’s superintendent, Lauren French, told 7 News.
The victim, a 10-year-old Black girl, was reportedly beaten and subjected to racially motivated language. Her mother reported the incident to police on September 10.
The girl suffered a black eye, hair loss from her hair being pulled, and a bruise on her knee after she fell on the school bus seat when her hair was pulled, reports 7 News.
It’s unclear whether she had to seek medical attention for her injuries.
The two girls have been charged with second-degree harassment, and the 11-year-old is facing an additional charge of third-degree assault as a hate crime.
The bus attendant, 28-year-old Tiffany Spicer, also white, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child for witnessing the attack and making no effort to stop or prevent it, reports 7 News.
“How do we become better out of this? How do we treat everyone better?” French said. Her plan of action includes tapping into resources “to provide additional training to our staff and additional training, support, recognition, conversation to our student body.”
French also asked the bus company, First Student, which serves the district, to provide additional training to their bus aides and monitors.
French told 7 News, “I firmly believe we are better than this, and we have to take a stand.”
