Alyssah Hall
Community members demanded justice and held a “Day of Support” for a female student and her family after a viral video showed her being assaulted by another student at Jehue Middle School on March 10.
In the video posted on social media, the 14-year-old female student was knocked unconscious. This is the first time the family has spoken publicly about the incident.
“My daughter’s story is not the only one, and that is heartbreaking truth. What happened to her should never happen to anyone, and we are committed to turning our pain into purpose and fighting for policy change…This is just the beginning. Change is not only necessary, it is non-negotiable,” said Christal Britton, the female student’s mother.
The event, held at the 16th Street Seventh-day Adventist Church in San Bernardino on March 26, was hosted by the I.E. Black Women’s Collective in partnership with the Black Equity Initiative, Inland Empire Concerned African American Churches, and Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE). The gathering was meant to serve as a place for solidarity, grief and resistance while calling for accountability, restorative justice and the protection of Black youth in schools.
“We also want to salute [San Bernardino County District Attorney] Jason Anderson and his team for taking proper action and dropping all charges. But it also must be understood, that what happened with [the female student] is more than a single moment; it’s a reflection of the broader systemic injustices that have persistently criminalized and discriminated against, neglected, silenced and harmed Black children and their families,” said Pastor Samuel J. Casey, Executive Director of COPE.
Casey said while they celebrate the DA dropping charges, he also credits the charges being dropped to the Black community showing up to the school district, the office of the Chief of Police, contacting the probation department, district attorney and public defender.
“Black children and families deserve dignity, respect and a safe space where they are valued, accepted; feel welcomed in school spaces, classrooms by all staff, teachers and administrators,” Casey continued.
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson issued a statement regarding the violent incident at Jehue Middle School which was published via San Bernardino County’s Facebook on March 25, 2025.
“On March 24, 2025, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against either child in the incident that occurred on March 10, 2025, at Jehue Middle School,” Anderson said via his statement.
“Confidentiality laws prohibit our Office from discussing details of the matter. An incomplete portion of the incident was captured on video that was released to the public. Upon review of the entire investigation and facts of the case, our Office declined to file any charges against anyone involved in the incident,” the statement continued.
Neither child was charged with a crime and Anderson noted that expects that both children can move forward from the conduct and not be defined by it.
The female student is being represented by civil rights attorney NaShaun Neal, who spoke and shared a detailed breakdown of what happened from the time the girl entered her classroom to the time after the incident when she finally texted her mom. Neal said this was about 45 minutes of chaos without intervention.
“The media makes it seem that it was kind of like horse play, even the press conference immediately thereafter describing this instance. But March 10 at nine o’clock was not just a normal day in the classroom,” Neal said.
“For some that may have watched the press conference and the statement presented by the school, they said they took quick action. At the start of the school day, there was no quick action. The teacher fell asleep at the wheel,” Neal continued.
According to Neal, the teacher on duty took roll and did not notice that the male student involved in the fight was not in his assigned seat. Instead, he was seated near the female student involved in the altercation, and her friends. During the class period, a water bottle was sprayed on people in the classroom including the female student. The teacher then threw the bottle in the trash can, however, the male student took it out of the trash can and continued to spray the water bottle out in a “sexual manner” and imitated that toward two female students in the class.
Other incidents in that classroom that led to the physical altercation include the female student being called a “monkey” and a “Black b—” when raising her hand to turn in her assignment. Neal also mentioned that later on her pencil was taken and passed around by classmates after she asked for it back multiple times.
“We want our children to be safe in school, girls to be safe from sexual harassment in the classroom. Black boys and girls to be freed from being called racial slurs, and that’s important,” Neal said.
“No one, when you send your kid to class, should have to be worried about their kid having to take their safety into their own hands, when they can no longer depend on the adult. [she] is a shy girl, soft spoken, and has a lot of life to live.”
After the altercation, part of which was captured on camera, where the female was knocked unconscious by the male student, Neal said she walked to the nurses office with her friend and called 911 for help.
When she arrived at the nurses office the nurse asked her who she was on the phone with, and when the nurse found out it was 911, she snatched the phone away from the female student and told the female student that she was okay since she was able to walk to the office, and hung up her phone.
Neal encouraged any parents who have seen or heard about their children being bullied to not only verbally share it, but to keep track of it and write it down and send it in an email.
“We want to thank you all for the outpouring and love and support shown to our family and, most importantly, to our daughter. Your kind words, calls, texts, letters and donations, and prayers have lifted us in ways words can’t fully express in the midst of this unimaginable time,” the female student’s mother said.
La’Nae Norwood, a community organizer and Co-Convener of the IE Black Women’s Collective, shared that 1500 people signed their letter petition and because of that support the district attorney decided not to file criminal charges against the girl.
While no charges were filed, this was the first time in the female student’s academic career that she was disciplined. Norwood mentioned that they are still calling for the reversal of her expulsion because the female student loves school and is grieving as she can’t be there at this time.
“We have to make sure that our communities are safe so our little Black girls and our little Black boys, and those who are nonbinary can live free without any persecution, any violence, any judgment, any impediments, any barriers to the success of their future,” Norwood said.
“This was a racially violent incident. There is a systemic and longstanding issue of anti-Black racism in these schools. I am the product of Rialto Unified School District. There have been fights and discourse and anti-Blackness since I was in school, and I’m sure some of my elders, my mentors sitting here, have experienced the same thing. So, we must eradicate anti-Black racism,” Norwood continued.
Community activists are still calling for accountability on behalf of all bullying incidents across Inland Empire school districts. Casey extended an invitation to an upcoming community gathering on April 10 to attendees. At the meeting, community advocates and leaders hope to center the voices of Black families and Black scholars in Rialto, San Bernardino, Redlands and Fontana Unified School Districts and develop plans to meet with multiple school district leaders and school boards.
“The only way that this changes is we have to meet with the policy makers and hold those accountable who are paid lucratively to make sure that these policies and practice changes that need to take place, take place in the school districts in a way that meets the the needs of all students, in particular Black students,” Casey said.