MEAD, Colo. (KDVR) — Three students at Mead High School have been suspended for five days after an image circulated that appears to show the students re-enacting the George Floyd murder.
According to a disciplinary letter sent to one of the student’s parents:
“One student spread black exhaust residue on his face, while (another) kneeled on his neck, holding his hands behind his back. A third student kneeled on the student’s back, with his hand shaped like a gun, pointed into the student’s side. This image was posted on social media. Several students witnessed the students’ actions. The reenactment, as well as the post, is substantially detrimental to the School as it caused and is causing substantial disruption to the School, students and staff at Mead High School.”
The Mead Police Department said school resource officers were working with the high school to investigate the incident.
The mother of one of the students said she will not sign the document submitted to her by the school district. She said what her son did had nothing to do with what happened to George Floyd.
“It was all just for fun,” the student’s mother told FOX31’s Aimee Lewis on Thursday. “It never was meant to be what it turned out to be.”
Dan Brewington’s kids go to Mead High School, and he believes the situation is being blown out of proportion.
“I really didn’t take it as what it’s being portrayed as online,” Brewington said. “I thought it was a bunch of guys goofing off, acting stupid, which is something that kids do.”
Brewington, a Black man, says he knows the students personally and doesn’t believe they are racist.
“I think we need to say ‘Hey, this is a teachable moment, this is not something that we need to drag through the racism mud,'” Brewington said. “I’m not offended. I’m a Black guy, I’ve been through it, I’ve seen it. This is not offensive. Racism to me is being hateful. I don’t think these kids were being hateful, I think they were being stupid.”
A change.org petition was created after the incident hit social media.
A rally at Mead High School is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday.
As FOX31 continues to investigate this story, updates will posted here.