Kent police and the Kent School District are investigating after a staff member at Kent-Meridian High school reported that anti-Muslim slurs and a death threat posted.
An investigation is underway after a staff member at Kent-Meridian High School reported that they found anti-muslim slurs and a death threat posted in the school’s girls bathroom.
The staff member made the discovery on Tuesday and immediately alerted authorities.
Kent police and the Kent School District say they will have extra patrols and surveillance at the high school on Monday.
Jasmin Samy is the civil rights director for the Washington State Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. She said threats, intimidation, and bullying toward the Muslim people has increased in recent months, especially for kids.
“I can’t even say how these students feel now, going to school every day, knowing that they’ve been called names and it was all over the bathrooms,” Samy said. “And they have a death threat. They are going to school where they actually received a death threat.”
Samy hopes the extra surveillance, patrols, and investigations are just the beginning. She hopes all schools can learn from this moving forward.
“I think there’s a lot of awareness that needs to be done. A lot of anti-bullying and harassment classes that need to be provided,” Samy added. “Please talk to the students. What does it mean? What does it mean to say these things and the impact and also to hold people accountable for what they’re doing and to talk to staff and to talk to administration.”
Samy said she has a meeting with Kent School District administration on Tuesday in an effort to prevent this from happening in the future.
“This is something that is unacceptable, and we hope we don’t see it again,” Samy said.
