Minnesota HS students walk out amid racist threats

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. (AP) — High school students in White Bear Lake walked out of class Friday after multiple Black students received racist threats through social media.

The threats originated from an anonymous Instagram account but screenshots posted online indicate the sender was a student who used the app’s group chat feature to target members of a school club for Black students, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The messages contained death threats and a racial slur.

Students walked out in protest at 10 a.m. on Friday. School officials said they would not be disciplined and they’re working with police to determine who made the threats.

Jason Healy, an elementary school principal in the same district, had his adminisrator’s license revoked last November in part because he made racist, sexist and homophobic comments to a teacher about students.

In January 2015 a spectator made racially-motivated noises toward a Cretin-Derham Hall boys basketball player when the Raiders played at White Bear Lake in a conference game. The White Bear Lake school district issued an apology for the spectator’s behavior.