New Jersey students recreate George Floyd death wearing MAGA hat and police badge, picture being investigated
RARITAN TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY: A photo showing two students mocking the police death of George Floyd has created a controversy and is being investigated. The photo was reportedly shared on various social media platforms, including Snapchat, and showed two young people recreating the May 25 incident, where former police officer Derek Chauvin allegedly knelt on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes. A shirtless and maskless young man is seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and a police badge as he kneeled on the neck of another one, who was wearing an ape mask. A number of people identified the unmasked person and told NJ Advance Media that he was a student at Hunterdon Central. The name and the photo of the students have not been revealed because of their young age; they have not been charged with any crime.
Hunterdon Central Regional High School District School Superintendent Jeffrey Moore confirmed that the inappropriate social media post that has circulated in recent weeks is been investigated by the local police. But he refrained from saying whether that picture was part of the investigation. “We’ve had recent incidents on social media involving students, and incidents of infiltration with racist slurs on videoconference platforms,” Moore said as he added: “In any incident involving pupils, or any incident involving law enforcement, we’re very limited in what we can share.”
According to reports, when in August, the post initially emerged online, Moore sent a letter addressing parents of the students. It read: “I write to share my utter disgust and deepest concern over a recent racist post on social media, allegedly perpetrated by students of our school. We take such reports very seriously and pursue all avenues available to protect the safety and wellbeing of everyone who lives and learns in our community. In that, we work with parents and law enforcement, including our partners in the Raritan Township Police Department and the Hunterdon County Bias Crimes Unit, without hesitation.”
“Expressions that espouse racism, express hatred, glorify violence, and devalue human life run against everything that we hold in our hearts and every tenet that fuels our commitment,” the letter added. “There is a right to free speech for all, and this is sacred in our nation. However, schools are duty-bound, through law and conscience, to fight racism wherever it appears. I, as your superintendent, am duty-bound, through my commitment to and love for our students and community, to declare it abhorrent and to say that it has no place here.”
While Raritan Township police have not provided any statement on the alleged incident because of the involvement of minors and as the investigation is still on. “It’s extremely offensive and disrespectful and something that has no place in our town, in the city, or in the state, or in the country," Mark Moton, a Black parent of a Hunterdon Central student, said. Some parents also complained that when the new session at the school started, a racial epithet was often used in the chat section of a virtual meeting, whose attendees were students, faculty as well as school administrators.
Taking note of these complaints, Moore stated that the Board of Education has made a committee on Racism, Equity and Diversity, which will involve four members of the school board. Vincent Panico, president of the board, said: “It’s going to be these four core board members with a larger pool of not only community members, but also staff members and students that make up the full committee. They’ve met, and now what they’re going to do is start to figure out the process for involving the community into this committee.”