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Teenagers charged with urinating on black classmate and shouting racist abuse

Two 17-year-olds in New Jersey called a middle schooler the n-word during football game

Alex Woodward
New York
Monday 21 October 2019 20:35 BST
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Two students are charged with harassing a middle school girl at Lawrence High School football game in New Jersey.
Two students are charged with harassing a middle school girl at Lawrence High School football game in New Jersey. (Google Maps)

Two 17-year-old boys from New Jersey have been charged with harassment, lewdness and bias intimidation after allegations that they urinated on a black middle school student at a high school football game while calling her the n-word.

Social media posts from at least one parent of a Lawrence High School student alleged that the boys used racist language while urinating on the girl during a Friday night game.

On Saturday, the Lawrence Township Police Department and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office announced the charges and arrests of the teen boys.

"As a police department, we take these incidents very seriously and we will continue to investigate until all of the facts are uncovered", the Lawrence Township Police Department said in a statement. "This type of behaviour will not be condoned in our community".

Ross Kasun, superintendent of the Lawrence public school district, said the school system is cooperating with the police investigation.

Officials have not released the names of the teens. Lawrence police said the boys are of "Indian descent".

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Lawrence Mayor Christopher Bobbitt said he was "deeply disturbed" by news of racist abuse.

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"Hate has no home in Lawrence Township", Mr Bobbitt said. "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. Instead I look to find allies that will help me fight the cancer of bigotry"

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