Photo: Spencer Weiner-Pool/Getty Images
A white Massachusetts teen charged with attempted murder after he insulted and repeatedly dunked a black boy who couldn’t swim under water.
The 14-year-old suspect is accused of taunting the victim on July 19 at Goose Pond in Chatham, Massachusetts, according to court documents.
“The water entered my mouth and my nose. I couldn’t breathe. So I screamed over and over that I couldn’t breathe and tried to get my hand off me,” the victim said in a written statement to police seen by NBC News.
The victim also said that as the teen and another person continued to pull him underwater, he began to feel dizzy and nearly vomited. When he began to feel exhausted, he yelled for help.
He pointed out that the two were his friends and had invited him to the pond, so he rode his bike there.
The teen told the victim to ride the bike in the water, but the teen refused because it belonged to his older brother. It was at that moment where the defendant and his companion began to throw stones at the victimaccording to the police account.
The young man, who did not know how to swim, put on a life jacket and got into the pond. However, the 14-year-old suspect “kept throwing rocks at him and threatened to hit him.”
At one point, the teen allegedly grabbed a larger rock, threatened the victim with it, and called him “boy” and the N-wordaccording to the police version.
The victim told the 14-year-old boy not to drag or fight him because he feared drowning, but the teen grabbed his life jacket and dunked him four or five times, he said.
The victim also wrote in her statement that the other minor “started laughing and called me George Floyd, obviously making fun of me and showing no remorse.”
Several people witnessed the incident. One of them helped pull the victim out of the water and told authorities she saw the teen and the other person “taking turns” dunking the victim, with smiles on their faces, according to the documents.
Another witness told police he heard George Floyd’s comment, and a third witness said he heard the victim yell “stop.”
The 14-year-old was charged with attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, announced the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office on August 31, calling it a racially motivated incident.
It is unclear if the second person involved will face charges. The district attorney’s office said it can only comment on juvenile cases when the person is charged as a juvenile delinquent.
The allegations rocked the coastal city about 100 miles southeast of Boston. The city’s Office of the Select Board said it was “disturbed and saddened” by what happened.
“We don’t think it reflects the true nature of our community, which is diverse and inclusive. We condemn all acts of violence, particularly those directed at children. Our thoughts are with the victim and her family, and we are here to support them in any way we can moving forward,” the board said in a statement Friday.
Scott Carpenter, superintendent of the Monomoy Regional School District, called the allegations “incredibly troubling.”
He said the 14-year-old and the other minor are not enrolled in the district.
“Monomoy continually strives to be welcoming, safe and inclusive for all. We believe in celebrating diversity, promoting empathy, respecting the dignity of every human being, and fostering understanding among all students, staff, and families. Acts of hate and violence are unacceptable and we condemn any behavior that seeks to harm or marginalize others based on their race, ethnicity, or any other personal attribute,” he noted.
The suspected teenager is being held without the right to bail and he is due back in court on September 13 for a pretrial conference.
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