Four South Carolina teenagers are not allowed to return to their high school over a controversial video mocking the death of George Floyd.
The video was posted on TikTok and appeared to show one student dressed in a police costume placing his knee on the neck of a second student who is lying on the ground, according to NBC affiliate WIS of Columbia. The second student is handcuffed behind his back and begins to shake as the camera pans away, the news station reported. It’s not clear how the other two students are involved.
It appears the footage has since been taken down. NBC News has not been able to view the original video.
The students involved attend White Knoll High School in Lexington. School principal Ted Daughtery said in a letter to parents and staff that the video was created at a home off-campus.
“The unacceptable and disturbing actions of these students negatively impact their school and all of our students,” Daughtery wrote in a letter.
“Over the last few years, White Knoll High’s staff and students have worked collectively toward bringing people together. This incident highlights that we still have work to do. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring all of our students and staff respect and learn from each other.”
Greg Little, the superintendent of Lexington School District One, also addressed the incident in a letter to parents and staff.
“Racism, in any form, will not be tolerated by our students or staff and will be addressed immediately,” he wrote.
Daughtery did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Floyd, a Black man, died in May 2020 after former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine and a half minutes while Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and went limp. Chauvin, who is white, was convicted in April of second- and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
