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3 Students Arrested After Admitting to Drawing Swastikas and Hate Graffiti at Calabasas High
Screenshot via KTLA
Three male students were cited for felony vandalism and suspended from school after admitting their involvement in creating racist graffiti that was spotted last weekend on the grounds of Calabasas High School. While the trio of all 11th graders could face criminal charges, they will not face hate-crime charges related to the incident, according to officials who say the teenagers did not target a specific group.Indeed, in spite of the fact that the graffiti appeared prior to a scheduled event featuring a Holocaust survivor, the students appeared to be taking it out on the general school populous at large according to a statement from the L.A. County sherriff's office:
We have three students who were angry with a number of fellow students and teachers. They showed their frustration by spray painting extremely offensive words and symbols throughout the school grounds.... The words and symbols were not focused on one ethnicity or religion. They included words and symbols that are anti-Semitic, as well as racial insults against African-Americans, and profanities directed at specific students and teachers who had upset them.
"Kids are taking it very seriously," Calabasas High School Principal C.J. Foss told KABC. "They feel like we were violated. But they are talking about tolerance and that's a positive thing."The students' scrawlings targeted two teachers at the school and seven 11th grade classmates, according to reports. All students involved had 4.0 GPAs, according to the sherriff's report.
Police did not release the names of the three students alleged to be behind the graffiti, but said they are also members of the 11th grade class at the high school.
Physical damage from the vandalism is estimated at $2,000 but tolerance counseling and other programs will be scheduled for the school's 2,000+ student body.
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