UK Edition
Calls for hate crime investigation after white high school students in Mississippi 'put noose on black student'
Civil rights leaders are calling for a hate crime investigation after a black Mississippi teenager allegedly had a noose looped around his neck by up to four white classmates during American football training.
Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), called for a federal inquiry.
"No child should be walking down the hall or in a locker room and be accosted with a noose around their neck," he said during a news conference on Monday. "This is 2016, not 1916. This is America. This is a place where children should go to school and feel safe in their environment."
Mr Johnson claimed that the students responsible had previously flown Confederate flags from their cars.
The alleged incident took place on October 13 at Stone High School in Wiggins, Mississippi during a break in training.
The black student, who has not been named, was near a locker room when he had a noose placed around his neck and "yanked backward", according to the NAACP.
The second-year student was "terrified" but returned to training, Mr Johnson told ESPN.
He did not attend Monday's press conference, but his parents stood alongside Mr Johnson as he described what allegedly took place.
"He was assaulted in a way in which individuals took the liberty to lasso a rope around his neck and pull the noose tight," he said. "It is an unfortunate incident because these same students earlier this year came to school brandishing Confederate flags in their vehicles."
Mr Johnson said that no action had yet been taken by the school district despite a policy stating that any student who assaults another will be expelled.
"We are calling attention to this incident to ensure it is not swept under the rug," he said.
Mr Johnson claimed that the alleged victim's mother had been discouraged from filing charges because the father of one of his alleged assailant's was a former police officer.
Sheriff's Captain Ray Boggs denied that claim, saying he had told Stacey Payton, the mother, that filing criminal charges could lead other students to cause problems for her son at school.
“It’s probably one of the hardest cases I’ll ever handle in my career, because of the nature of it,” Mr Boggs, who is black, told the Associated Press. “Have I ever had to deal with something like this? No, not from a high school.”
Johnson said he wants the teenagers charged as adults. That's allowable in certain situations for people between ages 13 and 16 in Mississippi.
He cited federal prosecutions of young people from Rankin County for hate crimes following the 2011 death of a man run down in the parking lot of Jackson motel as an example of what federal involvement could bring. Most of those people were charged as adults, although there was evidence of at least one unusual federal juvenile prosecution.
"There is absolutely a role for federal law enforcement," Johnson said.
Stone High School Principal Adam Stone referred comment to Superintendent Inita Owen. She and school board attorney Sean Courtney didn't respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment.
Johnson said the Paytons have received no official word about punishments from school officials. Johnson said school district policy calls for immediate expulsion of students who commit assault.
Carissa Bolden of Wiggins, the mother of a middle school student, attended the NAACP news conference Monday and said white students have been flying the Mississippi flag from their vehicles.
The upper left corner of the state flag used since 1894 has the Confederate battle emblem - a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars. Bolden said she sees a connection between the flag and the noose incident.
"I feel like it escalated from them allowing kids to bring Confederate flags" to school, Bolden said.