Canadian family demands justice after 14-year-old boy beaten in ‘racist attack’
A Canadian family is looking for justice after a video surfaced of a Black student being jumped and called racial slurs by a group of white students. A group of approx. seven students chased the student, Pazo as he crossed a field near his school in Edmonton, Alberta on April 16. The incident was captured on video, the teen reportedly suffered a concussion and bruising on various parts of his body.
“They were saying the N-word, they were calling me monkey,” he told the CBC. “That made me afraid to wear my own skin.”
In the short video clip taken by an unknown person during the assault, a group of boys were seen, kicking and punching him repeatedly. At one point an individual in a white hoodie locked Pazo in a chokehold, then slammed him into the ground, while the N-word can be heard yelled out during the brawl.
“When it was over, they asked me if I was fine, and then I told them, ‘Of course I’m not fine, you just attacked me,’” Pazo said. The young student had to overnight at a local hospital with injuries to his stomach, jar and bruising all over his body, according to CityNews. The teen also suffered a concussion, memory loss and a blood clot to his chest.
The incident allegedly is the culmination of months of harassment that started in November when a student threatened Pazo. The student was later expelled. The friends of the expelled student attempted to retaliate ever since Pazo said. “A couple of months go by and the kids keep coming after me and coming after me,” he told CTV News. The incident occurred when last Friday when Pazo missed the bus and opted to take an alternate bus to get home.
“They start trying to wrestle me,” he said. “They all start attacking me, and attacking me.”
Pazo and his family reached out to Edmonton Police Services to report and visited the local station where she was allegedly turned away twice while trying to offer a statement. Three days later an officer arrives at the family’s home when they tried to put the blame on him, asking if he did something to start the fight. “When I said, ‘No, I did not instigate the fight,’ he got angry,” Pazo said.
“He told me, ‘Your mom is not here, you can tell me if you started or wanted to fight.’ Then I told him, ‘why would I want to fight seven people?’”
Pazo’s mother told the news outlet that her focus is getting justice for her son, “I feel bad. Why I came out is because I need justice.”
Superintendent Darrel Robertson released a statement confirming that the students who’ve been identified so far. He also said that “two youth, including the individual in the white hoodie as seen in the video, are not “Edmonton Public Schools students.”
“Edmonton Public Schools and Rosslyn School have–in compliance with privacy legislation–provided the Edmonton Police Service with the names of all youth we identified as having participated in the assault to support their criminal investigation,” the statement read.
“All Edmonton Public Schools students who were involved in the assault have been recommended for expulsion in accordance with the Education Act,” it continues. “As we continue to investigate and gather further information, if other individuals are identified as Edmonton Public Schools students, additional consequences will be implemented.”
Both the Edmonton Police Services and Edmonton Public School Board are currently investigating the attack.