Horrifying viral video of autistic teen beaten at Howell High School sparks outrage
HOWELL, MICHIGAN: A Michigan teen with autism was savagely beaten up by his classmates at Howell High School last week. The video that was recorded by a bystander, is under criminal investigation. In the footage, two students can be seen brutally beating up the autistic teenager. The victim can be heard shouting in pain while getting punched and kicked before the two bullies steal his shoes. The incident happened on September 2, 2021 at Howell High School and the two suspects were the victim's classmates.
Investigators are seeking assault charges and that request is being reviewed by the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office. "As a school and district, we do not tolerate this type of behavior," Howell Public School District said in a statement. "The school has started the discipline process per the district’s student handbook, and law enforcement is involved." Investigators are seeking assault charges. That request is being reviewed by the Livingston County Prosecutor's Office.
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This isn't the first time when an autistic teenager became a victim of physical assault and hate. We reported a chilling incident where a Louisiana couple was charged for locking up an autistic woman in a cage, covering her in feces and forcing her to eat dead mother's ashes. In another incident, Jake Warfield, an 11-year-old autistic boy tried killing himself after he was bullied and repeatedly hit on the head with a metal pole by bullies in school and Carl Bookout, a Wisconsin sex offender physically abused his autistic stepson leading to his death.
Anne Richardson runs ARC Livingston County, an advocacy group for those this disabilities. She is also the mother of a child with autism. "That poor kid. That is all I could think of, was how awful for him to experience this and what trauma was inflicted on him. I have no idea why someone would do this." "We have so much more work to do, to make sure people are accepted and tolerated," she said. Richardson says Howell schools actually have a good reputation for advocating for kids with disabilities. "I know that there has been good work done at Howell High School for years," she said, mentioning their peer-to-peer and unified sports programs. Richardson says sometimes these children are vulnerable for trusting too much. "Our hearts go out to this boy and his family," she said.
People who viewed the horrifying video commented how 'sickening' the whole ordeal is. "This video makes me sick and sad. It’s sad how they are beating him. He did not deserve this at ALL!, one said. Another viewer also said: "This is sickening, he did absolutely nothing wrong to deserve that." One person said: "I can't believe that mother said what she said at 1:57 Teens and stress is ancient and not something new. To try and reason those punks behavior is pathetic. What they did is evil and they should pay a heavy price. Their next victim might end up dead."
Howell schools released a statement saying: "As a school and a district, we do not tolerate this type of behavior. The school has started the discipline process per the district's student handbook, and law enforcement is involved."