A 12-year-old bi-racial boy is facing a felony charge after he brought a butterfly knife to school after being bullied and repeatedly called the N-word at his school in Ottawa, Kansas.
The grade-schooler — who is Black and Native American — reportedly also was told to “go back to picking cotton.”
According to the boy’s attorney Vincent Rivera, the bully allegedly told the boy to “stop coming to school” or “I am going to hurt you” prior to hitting the boy and knocking him down. The abuse started when the family moved to Ottawa in 2019, and the boy often refused to get out of bed to go to school because he was afraid.
In December, the bully knocked the boy down and told him, “If you keep coming to school, it’s going to get worse.”
After his mother told school officials about her son being bullied, no action was taken and she was told she would be charged with truancy if her son did not return to school. The boy did return to school, but he brought a 1.5-inch butterfly knife with him, which he said he did not plan to use unless he was attacked again by the bullies. His mother also said she didn’t trust the authorities at the school to protect her child.
According to The Kansas City Star, the boy appeared in a Franklin County court on June 26 for a “criminal threat charge” that if committed by an adult would be considered a “level-9 felony.”
The state also reportedly threatened a child support order against the boy’s mother in the instance he would be removed from the home. She and her husband moved to the area from Oklahoma to be closer to her husband’s family. The outlet is not publishing their names for the safety of the family.
“He feels like he’s being punished for trying to defend himself,” said his mother.
Two 13-year-old students testified that the boy fidgeted with the knife during class. He later told the witnesses that he would use the knife if he were attacked again, and one…
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