A black teen in New Jersey seeking to win election to a student government office at a mostly white school was busted for sending racist text messages to himself, ostensibly to garner attention, sympathy and votes, school officials said.
The 16-year-old boy, who was running for president of the student body at Peter’s Prep school in Jersey City, alerted the officials to the texts he received that pushed for him to drop out of the race, the Jersey Journal reported.
They said things like: “We have NEVER and will NEVER have an [N-word] to lead our school.”
Another read: “COMEONE your black!!! lol you’re a joke for even trying to run.”
Administrators subsequently called his father and the police, the Journal reported.
His father said at the time of the investigation that his son was “extremely nervous and feels threatened.”
“It is a predominantly white school and there may be a few sections of the school who are fearful of a new face trying to get in office,” the father said.
Police tracked the texts and ultimately determined that he actually sent them to himself using a phone app called TEXTME.
A source said the teen no longer attends the school. Meanwhile, administrators expressed relief in the finding.
“The entire Saint Peter’s Prep community is relieved that this extremely distressing incident has found closure, and we commend the various law enforcement officials for their diligent work on this case over the past months,” James Horan, a spokesman for the school, told the Journal.
Neither the boy nor his father could be reached for comment in the Journal report.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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