PORTLAND — Portland police have made an arrest in a hate crime against a group of teens from Casco Bay High School.
Word of the arrest comes only a short time after students from around the city came together Friday afternoon, to show their support for the victims.
Officials say the victims endured racial slurs, and were threatened at a bus stop.
This comes after police say Hoffman began yelling racial slurs at black students at a bus stop near Casco Bay High School last week, then assaulting them and threatening them with what police are now calling a screwdriver.
Friday, students came together in what they called a city-wide show of solidarity.
As school let out Friday afternoon, students at Portland High let out their emotions.
They call it a message of unity, with students from nearby Baxter Academy joining as well.
The city’s superintendent says students in a human rights class helped organize all of this, with the district allowing an early dismissal for these rallies.
On Monday, students at Casco Bay High School held a similar event, all reacting to the reported hate crime one week ago, where black students at Casco Bay reported they were harassed, assaulted and threatened with what looked like a knife by a young white male at a city bus stop.
The students say that incident made many feel unsafe, and that this event did the opposite.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
