EDMONDS — Messages in the online group praised a man who earlier this year killed nine people at a black church in South Carolina.
Prosecutors allege that the hate-filled messages were posted by Edmonds-Woodway High School students. Two boys allegedly admitted to police they wrote the racist posts but told police they were only trying to be funny. One boy, 15, claimed he got the ideas from the Internet and media, according to court papers filed Thursday.
In October he posted that he wanted to bring a gun and a Ku Klux Klan outfit to the high school. He wrote about leaving behind dead bodies and blood-spattered walls.
He and the other boy, 16, also allegedly made threats to lynch one of their African American classmates and beat another.
“I had the rope in my hand and I really really wanted to put it around his neck and choke him the (expletive) out,” the younger boy allegedly wrote.
“That would have been (expletive) funny,” his friend posted.
Several juveniles were invited to join the private Facebook group and several made racist comments, according to a police report. It became criminal when the two boys made direct threats to harm or kill two classmates based on their race, investigators wrote. They were arrested Tuesday.
Prosecutors Thursday charged the two with malicious harassment, a felony. The younger boy pleaded not guilty Friday. He was being held at Denney Juvenile Justice Center. The older boy was released to a parent after a $10,000 bond was posted. He will be called into court in the coming weeks to answer to the charge.
A judge earlier this week ordered the boys to stay away from each other and the victims. They also are prohibited from using cellphones or computers.
The teens were expelled from school, according to Edmonds police.
The messages came to the attention of police Dec. 7 after a student reported seeing the posts and contacted school officials.
Officers interviewed the younger boy and he voluntarily showed them his Facebook account and another private online group with a racist name, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Leanne Foster wrote. There were seven members listed as part of the private group.
The posts mainly were derogatory messages directed at African Americans. Police also discovered the threats made to other students.
One of the victims told police the comments made him angry. He said the posters were being immature and ignorant.
Officers interviewed the second victim and his parents last week. School staff had told the family about the threats but didn’t elaborate, according to court papers.
Police provided a copy of the posts to the family.
The boy said the messages were appalling and frightening. His parents became emotional after reading the posts, according to an officer. They have considered pulling their children out of the school.
Their son told police that he doesn’t share any classes or extracurricular activities with the suspects.
“He was not sure why he became a target of theirs,” according to court papers.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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