FAIRFIELD, Calif. — The parents of a student at a northern California high school are asking for further action after racist and other derogatory images were found painted on campus earlier this month.
Edward and Mitzi Russell believe their son — who goes by "Smitt" and is a senior at Vanden High School in Fairfield, where the incident happened — was one of the targets. They say the school did not do enough to discipline the students responsible, and they are now working with the NAACP in San Francisco.
"These individuals are still in class with my son," Russell told ABC10. "They have access to him. I want them removed."
Travis Unified School District closed Vanden High School March 27 after officials said there were threats made to the school. The school says the two incidents are not related.
According to the police report from the Fairfield Police Department, in early March, four students used black and green spray paint to vandalize the softball and baseball field areas of the school. The images included a swastika, a penis, and other derogatory comments about the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities. (The Russells allege the comments were in part directed towards a school resource officer and their son.)
Russell said the 18-year-old suspects were all suspended for five days. Additionally, the report states that the school administration did not press charges against them so long as they paid for the estimated $2,000 in damages.
However, the Russells believe the students' actions constitute a hate-crime and that more action needs to be taken.
"These kids are being protected," Johnicon George of the NAACP said. "They did something they shouldn't have done. They should be called on it. They should be disciplined for it."
George also pointed to similar incidents across the country where high school students were charged.
The press conference came the same day Vanden High School canceled classes and other school activities due to a violent threat against students. The school will not say what that threat was and did not respond to questions about whether the nature of the threat was racially motivated.
Asked about the vandalism at a press conference Wednesday, Travis Unified School District Superintendent Pamela Conklin addressed the school's response to the students responsible.
"Because those individuals are students," Conklin said, "We were able to administer the appropriate discipline action pursuant to California Education Code."
Classes at Vanden High will resume Thursday. Russell said that while the incidents are not connected, it's unsettling knowing their son was targeted earlier this month.
"Yesterday at the game I'm looking over my shoulder, looking who's coming, so I can protect him in case anything happens. You know?" Russell said of his son's baseball game. "Somebody took that from me."
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Darnell Ray Owens, 32 of Sacramento, was arrested in Oklahoma for allegedly sending dozens of threatening letters to government agencies, organizations, and individuals across the country. If convicted, authorities say he could see a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison for each count.