Four teens confronted a student and verbally harassed him about being Asian before spitting near him outside of Longfellow Middle School in McLean, Virginia, Fairfax County police said.
The incident happened Monday, and the teen was not injured, according to police.
Fairfax County Public Schools said that the student involved and the teenagers that verbally harassed him were not students at Longfellow. The victim of the incident is a FCPS student.
Police say a School Resource Officer assigned to the middle school is investigating the incident.
In a letter to parents about the confrontation, Longfellow Middle principal Jim Patrick and nearby McLean High School principal Ellen Reilly said they strongly denounce acts such as the one that happened on Monday.
“We stand with our Asian American and Pacific Islander students, staff and community and unequivocally denounce racism and discrimination of all kinds and to condemn all acts of hate,” the letter says. “We are committed to ensuring safe spaces for all of our students and interrupting any experience that would cause pain and trauma as a result of racialized (or other identity based) violence.”
FCPS spokeswoman Helen Lloyd said that the incident took place outside of school hours and is still being investigated, including whether the four teens were FCPS students.
