by Ann Zaniewski
Detroit Free Press
April 16, 2015
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Bloomfield Hills students who were accused of using racial slurs to bully a boy have been disciplined at school — and may be in trouble with the law.
Prosecutors have been examining the case of the children who taunted 13-year-old Phoenix Williams, a Bloomfield Hills Middle School student, on a school bus last month. Phoenix captured footage of the incident on his cell phone.
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper said her office has filed petitions with the juvenile courts in Wayne and Oakland county regarding the two. The petition cites one juvenile, who lives in Wayne County but was attending school in Bloomfield, with ethnic intimidation. The second juvenile was cited for harassment. Information about juveniles is not public unless and until a family court judge rules that the petitions will proceed.
"The court has wide discretion about what they can do," Cooper said this morning.
The judges can order the juveniles into an adjudication – the equivalent of a trial - or defer the case, ordering the juveniles into treatment or youth assistance programs. The judges can deny the petition, in which case it remains sealed.
The March 13 incident has sparked social media campaigns in support of Phoenix, who is black. Some students are planning a rally against racism Friday at the school.
Officials with the Bloomfield Hills Schools district say the students accused of taunting Phoenix have been disciplined.
"We will not tolerate this kind of behavior and have developed a plan of support for this young man to provide a safe environment for him," reads a statement on the district's website.
"We are proud of this student for coming forward and notifying an adult. It takes courage and strength to stand up to incidents of bullying, and we applaud him for taking that step."
A spokeswoman for the district, Shira Good, said in an e-mail Wednesday that she can't comment on the exact nature of the punishment "for legal reasons." She said the district is aware of the potential charges.
Bloomfield Township Police Lt. Dan Edwards said the boy and his mother filed a harassment complaint with police March 16. Officers launched an investigation before turning over the case to prosecutors.
Good said there were adults on the bus at the time, but they weren't nearby.
"As you can tell from the video Phoenix recorded, the bus was very noisy. The adults were several rows away from the students and were not aware of the incident. When staff were notified of the incident, they immediately involved police and launched a full investigation," she said.
Messages of support for Phoenix have popped up on Twitter in recent days under the hashtags #JusticeForPhoenix and #PROTESTBLOOMFIELD.
Bloomfield Hills High School junior Spencer Nabors, 16, said she's outraged by what happened to Phoenix. She and a friend started the hashtag #PROTESTBLOOMFIELD and are organizing a rally at 2:30 p.m. Friday outside of the middle school.
Spencer said the district needs to do more to combat racism and promote diversity.
"This is not a solo incident. Things like this have happened throughout the district for a while," she said. "We're hoping that the district will have sensitivity and diversity training."
Good said the district already has diversity-related programs in place. Officials hope to offer more training.
"We have invested more in the DAERR Initiative (Diversity, Academic Equity and Race Relations), Global Champions, and Institute for Healing Racism than any other project this year and we are committed long-term to this important work," she said in the e-mail.
The district has scheduled a forum at 6:30 p.m. April 28 in the Booth Center at 7273 Wing Lake Road "for community members to attend and speak together about the path forward."
Free Press staff writer L.L. Brasier contributed to this report. Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AnnZaniewski.