Image credit: Mead High School. (2024, October 5). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead_High_School
A group of former football players and their supporters have filed a lawsuit against the Mead School District in Fairwood, Washington, alleging severe racial harassment and sexual abuse that went unchecked at an annual football camp, The Sacramento Bee‘s Julia Marnin reported.
According to the lawsuit, Black athletes from Mead High School were repeatedly targeted by white teammates who sexually assaulted them with a massage gun, often while coaches and staff looked the other way.
The complaint claims that at the start of the June 2023 camp, held at Eastern Washington University, a group of white players warned their Black teammates that they would be attacked, with one Black player learning he was the first “target.” Seeking help from his coaches, the player reported his fears of being “tormented and raped” by his teammates. The lawsuit states that the coaches failed to intervene, leading the student to hide and barricade himself in a dorm room. When the group of white players located him, they forced their way in, holding him down as one player, who stood 6’6″ and weighed 285 pounds, assaulted him with a battery-powered massage gun. The attack was recorded and shared on social media, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit further alleges that this 2023 incident mirrored a similar assault from the previous year’s camp, where a Black “standout” athlete faced the same type of attack. In both years, the perpetrators targeted not only Black athletes but also teammates who tried to defend them. One white player who stood up against the assaults was subsequently attacked himself in a “punishment ritual,” with masked teammates using a massage gun to assault him after declaring he needed to “pay the price” for protecting his Black peers. His sexual assault, like the others, was filmed and circulated online.
According to the firm representing the victims, Mead School District staff knew of these assaults through videos shared directly with them. Yet, school officials allegedly downplayed the incidents, with some staff describing the assaults as “roughhousing” and “boys being boys.” In one email, a parent relayed that a coach, upon learning of the sexual assault, remarked, “In our day we used a stick, you guys have gone soft.” According to the complaint, the district waited eight months to inform parents of these events, only after the assault videos had widely circulated.
The lawsuit also highlights a January memo by the high school principal, which chillingly noted, “If this had been a girl involved, we’d call it gang rape.” Despite mandatory reporting duties, the school’s athletic director is accused of failing to notify parents or administrators, even after receiving video evidence of the assaults. Spokane County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incidents, finding probable cause to charge four students with fourth-degree assault. However, charges were not filed, as the students were placed in a diversion program.
An attorney who represents the victims contends that the issues extend beyond isolated incidents. “This case is not about isolated incidents; it’s about a pervasive culture within the Mead School District,” the attorney stated. “The district’s inaction wasn’t some profound series of coincidental oversights — they made repeated and deliberate choices that betrayed the trust parents place in schools to protect their children.” He argues that the district’s failure to act created an environment where racial harassment could thrive, unchecked and ignored.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for damages and calls on the court to implement measures that would prevent similar incidents in the future, aiming to ensure that no student endures such treatment again.