Benjamin Young Savage (ᐱᓐᒋᐱᓐ)UPDATE: @[email protected] of @[email protected] was the first reporter to contact me, and is on the story.
UPDATE: @[email protected] of @[email protected] has come in as the second reporter to contact me.
More Colorado racism:
https://twitter.com/yousofancy/status/1068355259636961280?s=21
UPDATE: @[email protected] of @[email protected] is the third reporter to contact me, and first national one.
UPDATE: I just learned that @[email protected] had suspended the Black kid who threw the punch l from @[email protected].
That’s. Wild.
Just learned the white nazi-attired kid got suspended too, for a longer period than the Black kid did.
Both are now back at the school taking classes.
This rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper.
This article shows neo-nazis having roots in Denver as far back as the 90s:
https://twitter.com/jasonhardung/status/1068562415447531525?s=21
And even more; a journalist was murdered in Denver by neo-nazis back in 1984!
Seems like the neo nazi Denver traditions continue today. Shane Reeves was one of the guys who beat up Deandre Harris during the protests in #Charlottesville.
He hails from Boulder, Colorado, about an hour away from Denver.
Shane Reeves
His commentary on Facebook Shane Reeves is an American resident of Boulder, Colorado . [5] Personal Life Reeves' wife is Alaina Reeves. There are several public facing pictures of the two of them on Reeve's page and on her own page. Stating he will make the rally on Facebook Reward by Shaun King (activist) Unite the Right Rally On August 12, 2017, Reeves, along with Michael A. Ramos, Daniel Borden , and other unidentified white supremacists, were photographed and recorded on video assaulting Deandre Harris , a counter protester of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, with poles. [2] Footage from the assault Harris was left with eight staples in his head, a broken wrist and a chipped tooth. Shaun King (activist) has offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to the proper identification and arrest of the other men who assaulted Harris. [2] [9]
So, all of a sudden, within the past 2 hours, I've gotten scores of DMs and mentions where people have said they think @[email protected] is being unfairly portrayed.
It's weird that they both came all at the same time and were all so similar.
https://twitter.com/andrew_garrett_/status/1068584538744463360
One of the Class of 2019 students sent me a letter @[email protected] sent out after the incident in the initial video.
A journalist on the case has let me know that the school is refusing to say whether or not the students were suspended... despite many students saying they were
I've been replying to a lot of the students in my DMs, and asking them about race, whistelblowing, and issues with extremism at the school.
This is what one said:
As more and more students pour into my mentions defending their principal, I'm also getting many many more links that show that racism in this community is running strong and deep:
Michael Longhofer on Twitter
“@benjancewicz @mountainvistahs @MVHSPrincipalMW @ColoradoNewsCCM @channel2kwgn @CBSDenver @highlandsranch @denverpost https://t.co/Pl6n2V8b4z https://t.co/uaevgNb2Sh It’s pretty well-known among longtime Denver residents that HR has always been a white flight enclave. The area feels different from the rest of the city.”
So @[email protected] has a Text-A-Tip program to let authorities know about serious threats in the school.
However, several students admitted to me that the system is NOT anonymous, and that students who have used it were called into the office.
More on Colorado/Denver racism:
Foster Road Crank Teeth on Twitter
“@benjancewicz @JasonHardung Many of the Golden State Skinheads crew that were involved in the Sacramento stabbings in 2016 were form Denver. William Planer and his crew constantly harassed people in Denver and Colorado Springs for years. https://t.co/2uygkBQpsH https://t.co/UiCEbC8h4J”
And even with some older history; how the KKK ran Colorado for a long time:
Context about @[email protected]'s response to the incident.
However, it's interesting that the assembly happened only after the white student was punched; not when he wore nazi regalia to school.
https://twitter.com/PierceAngeloff/status/1068632304837423105
Pierce Angeloff on Twitter
“@sincerely_rican @nolta13 @benjancewicz @mountainvistahs @MVHSPrincipalMW You must check your sources. The day following the fight Mr. Weaver addressed the fight in a school assembly, reminding students of his zero tolerance for discrimination and how us students should respect each other.”
What’s wild to me is that so many students are defending @[email protected] as a great guy (which I do not doubt), but are unable to explain why the student wearing a Nazi uniform was allowed to do so for so long.
Classmates tell me he did it all the time.
That’s not ok.
@[email protected] UPDATE: @[email protected] of the @[email protected] wrote a truly excellent article about the incident:
Viral video shows Mountain Vista High School student in Nazi jacket being punched in the face by a black student
A previously unreported video of a black Mountain Vista High School student punching a white student wearing Nazi garb has gone viral this week even though the incident happened in August, leaving …
@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] UPDATE: @[email protected] of @[email protected] is the 4th journalist to contact me about the story, and the 2nd national one.
So, a student just forwarded me a story that was published in the school newspaper... titled “all lives matter”. 😒
Several students asked @[email protected] to release a statement renouncing racism at the school, which he declined to do.
Another student heard about the first essay and wrote a competing essay called “black lives matter”.
Apparently because of the all the attention, @[email protected] released a statement on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mvhsprincipalmw/status/1068634960108507137?s=21
.@[email protected]’s article on @[email protected] just dropped:
https://twitter.com/rawstory/status/1068701263636938752?s=21
UPDATE: a journalist from the school newspaper messaged me about @[email protected]’ active censoring of reporting on racism for the school newspaper.
UPDATE: another student came forward to talk about their perspective on the support of the principal; @[email protected].
UPDATE: @[email protected] has picked up the story:
UPDATE: @[email protected] has hired @[email protected] (an alum) to do a training for the staff in January:
https://twitter.com/rbyrdconsulting/status/1068888193423032321?s=21
Another former student spoke up about the school’s approach to racism.
And continued on about so many students bringing up the good work the school has done around Make A Wish.
Another current student stepped forward, and talked about racist things they’re seeing at the @[email protected]:
It should be noted that there are also students like this one at @[email protected], who post things like this. Charming.
Another current @[email protected] student sent in this comment:
UPDATE: @[email protected] wrote about the story: https://www.nbc26.com/news/national/a-colorado-student-in-a-nazi-jacket-was-punched-in-the-face-by-a-black-peer-both-have-been-charged
A Colorado student in a Nazi jacket was punched in the face by a black peer. Both have been charged
It’s been three months since a black student in Colorado reportedly punched a white student wearing a Nazi jacket in the face, but the incident has only come to light after a video of the fight went viral this week.
UPDATE: @[email protected] wrote about the story: https://twitter.com/newsweek/status/1069234750655741953?s=21
UPDATE: @[email protected] released an email statement about the attention racist incidents had been getting.
The most telling thing for me was the extra emphasis on the criticism coming from the “outside”.
All of the people I’ve quoted in there ACTUALLY go to the school.
Another student has come forward to talk about the racism in the school.
UPDATE: The first student who’s been willing to have her name published contacted me.
She’s a journalist for http://VistaNow.org who wrote about the incident back when it happened.
Her name is @[email protected].
She wrote this amazing article:
http://www.vistanow.org/opinion-vista-lets-talk/amp
More and more students and alum are coming forward to talk about the racism at @[email protected], which is really inspiring.
This former student opens with a reaction against rampant support of @[email protected]:
Other former student from @[email protected] has come forward with some perspective on @[email protected]:
Another student, senior @[email protected] , has come forward and make a statement publically about her perspective about racism at the school.
She also wrote a really good thread: https://twitter.com/charlee_johnsen/status/1068910707998044160?s=21
@[email protected] A freshman student has come forward to share their perspective on racism at the school, the response of the administration, and some background on the nazi-attired kid in middle school:
In regards to Highlands Ranch and the racism there, a Black man who lived there wanted to share his perspective on the racism of the area.
Another anonymous @[email protected] student, a junior, offered their support of the statements @[email protected] made.
I should point out that a number (but by no means a majority) of the students who have been critical of the handling of racial issues at @[email protected] have been Black or other students of colour.
However, all of them, even some alum, feared retribution and remained anonymous.
Up until now.
A voice that’s been strikingly absent from this whole story is that of the Black student who punched the nazi-attired student.
As the story grew, he created a Twitter account and contacted me.
I talked with him for a while and was able to verify his identity.
His name is Louis Bates, also known as @[email protected].
He is willing to talk to journalists, who may contact him directly.
And here is his perspective of what had happened; in his own words (other names of students redacted).
UPDATE: @[email protected] of @[email protected] reported on the story:
https://www.ebony.com/news/student-known-to-dress-up-as-nazi-punched-in-the-face-by-black-student/
UPDATE: @[email protected]'s @[email protected] wrote about the story:
Black Colorado Student Charged with Assault After Punching White Student Doing Doing KKK-Themed Pose
It's been three months since two Colorado students duked it out in the schoolyard after one of them who was known for wearing Nazi regalia struck a pose symbolic of the Ku Klux Klan at school, but the incident has regained national attention after video of the fight went viral this week. According to The Denver Post,
UPDATE: The @[email protected] picked up the story, making it the first non-American news source to mention it. https://twitter.com/dailymail/status/1069762225764777985?s=21