By Julia Marnin
Correspondent
Lawrence High School is in the nation’s eye after two 17-year-old boys were arrested in a racial bias incident that occurred at a football game on Friday, Oct. 18, Lawrence Township police said.
The boys used racial slurs against the victim during the attack, while one of them urinated on her, according to NBC News.
“Hate has no home in Lawrence Township,” said Lawrence Township Mayor Christopher Bobbitt in a long Facebook post he issued addressing the incident.
The two high school seniors are facing multiple counts of harassment, bias intimidation and lewdness against the eighth-grade female student, CBS Philly reports.
“‘It’s disgusting,’” an anonymous student at Lawrence High School told CBS Philly.
After the arrests, Lawrence Township police announced on Twitter that the two offenders are of Indian descent.
The race of the young female victim is currently unknown, along with the derogatory language the two boys used in their attack. Police are still investigating the incident, according to CNN.
“‘It’s not my place to say (what should happen to them). I know both of them, I’m just shocked they did it,’” another anonymous student at the high school told CBS Philly.
Ross Kasun, the superintendent of Lawrence Township Public Schools, told NBC News that the school district is complying with authorities in their investigation.
“As someone that has felt its sting, I know that bigotry exists and sadly will continue to exist but that doesn’t mean that I give up,” Bobbitt said in his Facebook post. “Instead I look to find allies that will help me fight the cancer of bigotry.
Bobbitt told CBS Philly that he has been “‘heartened’” by the outreach of community support he has received and is glad that Lawrence Township detectives were able to quickly apprehend the perpetrators.
