ATLANTA (AP) – Some students at an Atlanta private school have been suspended indefinitely after a video surfaced showing them conducting an apparent mock lynching of another student with toilet paper in a school bathroom, officials said.
Several boys at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School were seen on video wrapping toilet paper around their heads and cutting holes for their eyes, news outlets reported. Some were also seen wrapping what appears to be a toilet paper noose around another boys neck as he appears to pull up on a bathroom stall support beam as if being hanged.
Officials at the college preparatory school acknowledged the incident Thursday. They said the act was reprehensible and wouldn’t be tolerated. They also said the students were suspended indefinitely while the school investigates.
A school statement didn’t say how many youths were suspended.
The school said it is working with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights to develop an educational program and had asked former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young to speak to the study body.
Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit incorporates work-study programs into its curriculum and primarily serves low-income students.
The races of those involved weren’t immediately disclosed.