Three male students suspended from Eastern Technical High School in Essex for placing racial epithets and a derogatory drawing on a whiteboard in a 10th grade Spanish class during the last week of school will not be investigated for committing a hate crime, Baltimore County police said this week.
The drawing depicted three nooses, a burning cross and three stick figures in pointed dunce caps similar to those worn by Ku Klux Klan members, according to a picture. It also showed a tombstone with racist epithets referencing to Blacks and an expletive directed to President Barack Obama. The image was photographed and posted on Twitter on June 7, police said.
“The teacher is in her classroom sitting at her desk and working with several students about their final exam grades and their quarter grades,” said Det. Cathy Batton, a Baltimore County police spokeswoman. “Another student approached her to call her attention to the images that are being drawn on the whiteboard. However, when she looked up, most, if not all, of the images have been erased.”
Batton said three students were identified by other students and suspended for their involvement in the incident. She said the teacher said she did not see who drew the pictures. It could not be determined if the teacher will face disciplinary action in connection with the incident.
Batton said the department conducted a “full investigation and determined that no crime occurred,” though a schools spokesperson said police did not interview all of the students in the classroom.
Batton said there must be a finding of an “underlying crime that is determined to have been caused by a biased incident” before a case will qualify as a hate crime. Police have to determine that “the crime was motivated by something that would trigger the hate crimes statute.” She said no such underlying crime occurred in this case.
“Regardless of what the motivation is, we can’t charge a hate crime because there is no crime that has been committed…It was writing on a board,” she said. “There were no threats against specific students…It was an isolated incident, so there was no harassment directed at other students. Essentially, while it was senseless and inappropriate, it is not illegal.”
According to a Maryland statute, a hate crime is defined as “an act that appears to be completely or partly motivated by race, religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation or disability.”
“I am concerned that the police department did not consider it a hate crime,” said Gerald Stansbury, president of the Maryland State Conference of the NAACP. He said the message clearly “indicates hate” and was particularly egregious because it referred to Obama.
Some Black parents also are not satisfied with the response. They are concerned that their children may be targeted if they speak out about the incident. One mother shared emails which detailed what she characterized as inaction on the part of the school’s administration to racial name calling last year.
Tom Evans, Eastern Tech’s principal, could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the telephone in the school office said he was out of town. A spokeswoman for Baltimore County schools said racial incidents are not a problem at the school.
“Eastern Tech has a wonderful reputation for its diversity and academic achievement,” said Phyllis Reece, chief communications officer for Baltimore County Public Schools. “This was an isolated event, the students involved were properly disciplined and when school returns there is going to be a sensitivity workshop for all students.”
Eastern Tech, according to the school website, says the school is in the top five percent of the nation’s high schools. Newsweek ranked it in the top 20 percent. The school has a population of 1,255 students who live in neighborhoods mainly in the Kingsville, Rosedale, Middle River and White Marsh areas.
