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THE N-DOUBLE A-C-P
WANTS CHARGES
AGAINST A
LEXINGTON TEEN
UPGRADED.
A LEXINGTON
CATHOLIC HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENT IS
ACCUSED OF
HARRASSING AND
THREATENING
ANOTHER STUDENT
BECAUSE OF HIS RACE.
HE FACES A
MISDEMEANOR
CHARGE RIGHT NOW
... BUT SOME WANT
THAT TO BE A FELONY.
WKYT'S CAITLIN
CENTNER TALKED TO
CHAPTER
LEADERSHIP... IN A
STORY THAT'S NEW AT
11.
Adrian Wallace / Vice
President, NAACPSadly
Lexington Catholic is
certainly not an
anomaly. We know that
we've heard reports of
these same things
happening at our five
public high schools.
Police charged a 17-
year-old Lexington
Catholic student earlier
this week for allegedly
harrassing a fellow
teammate on the
football team.
But a local chapter of a
national organization
says the current
misdemeanors aren't
enough.
Adrian Wallace
These are things we
don't want to bring a
hammer down on
children, but at the
same time they need
to understand that kind
of behavior is not
acceptable, the hate
speech that is going on
inside of our schools
when kids are trying to
get an education.
Denisha Vinegar, mom
to 14-year-old
DeMarco, told WKYT
she found threatening
messages on her son's
computer.
At one point DeMarco
is asked if he knows
what 'lynch' means and
goes on to say, 'Lynch
means I'm gonna hang
you because you're
black and I just might'.
Adrian Wallace
So that's the reason
we've really pushed for
this case to be elevated
because we don't want
this to happen to
anybody else.
The next step for the
local chapter of the
NAACP is for them to
get in contact with the
commonwealth
attorney.
If the Commonwealth
Attorney takes on this
case, it then becomes a
federal case.
Adrian Wallace
These youth they're
being fed that by their
families often times
and so while people
think that symbols and
maybe people think
this kid's verbiage isn't
really that big of a deal
it really is because it
speaks to a larger issue
and it's something we
need to make sure we
alleviate and it won't
go away if we don't
talk about it.
DeMarco is now
attending a public
school.
Fayette County
Attorney Larry Roberts
said he could not speak
specifically to this case
because it's pending
and because it involves
juveniles.
In Lexington. Caitlin
Centner. WKYT.
LEXINGTON
CATHOLIC RELEASED A
STATEMENT SAYING
'AS AN ACADEMIC
INSTITUTION, WE
MUST LEARN FROM
THIS EXPERIENCE',
ALSO SAYING THEY
WILL BECOME A MORE
INCLUSIVE AND
WELCOMING
COMMUNITY.