6 youths to be charged in Southwick racial bullying incident involving ‘mock slave auction'

Multiple youths are facing charges in connection with a serious racial bullying incident that occurred last month in Southwick, Massachusetts, involving a "mock slave auction" on social media.

The hate speech and race-based bullying occurred on Feb. 8, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said at a news conference Thursday, and he learned of it a week later, at which point the facts he was given compelled him to immediately investigate.

The investigation has concluded, and his office is pursuing criminal charges against six youths for their alleged roles in the "hateful, racist online chat that included heinous language, threats and a mock slave auction."

All six are being charged with threat to commit a crime. Two of those kids are also being charged with interference with civil rights, and one of those two is additionally facing a witness interference charge.

The district attorney said he can't divulge as much as he wants to given that these charges are being filed in juvenile court. Their names also cannot be released, but Gullani said they are 13-14 years old.

According to Gulluni, a group chat transpired on Snapchat on the late evening of Feb, 8 into the early morning of Feb, 9. It was created by 8th grade students from Southwick Regional School, and the discussion involved multiple youths who came and went.

It included several students made hateful and racist comments, notions of violence toward people of color, racial slurs, derogatory pictures and videos, and a mock slave auction directed to two students known to them.

It was reported to Southwick school authorities on Feb. 9. On Feb. 12, several students, including all those facing charges now, were immediately suspended as emergency removal per state law. On Feb. 15-16, several students were formally suspended by Southwick school system. Two were suspended for 25 days, and one was suspended for 45 days.

The district attorney said he has met personally with the identified victims and their families. He said prosecutors and investigators worked diligently to hold accountable provable criminal acts that occurred.

"I intend to be very clear, hatred and racism have no place in this community. and where this behavior becomes criminal, I will ensure that we act, and act with swift resolve, as we did here to uncover it and bring it to the light of justice," he said. "Bullying especially when it involves race is an insidious force within a school community and within a community at large. It is also deeply damaging to victims who experience harassment, abuse and humiliation."

"There is no question that the alleged behavior in this case of these six juveniles is vile, cruel and contemptable," he continued. "Seeing it and facing the reality that these thoughts, that this ugliness, can exist within middle school students here in this community in 2024 is discouraging, unsettling, and deeply frustrating."

Gullani said they intend to appropriately punish those whose allegedly behavior displaced a capacity for such hatred and cruelty, and ultimately amounted to chargeable criminal conduct.

"We must also acknowledge that this incident is not and will not be the only one of its kind. It is a reality that we cannot ignore but as I stand here I look forward with resolve and commitment to enact change and to foster progress in this community."

The district attorney continued, "We must take a proactive approach to teaching our children about empathy, compassion and fairness. These affirmative efforts are necessary as there exists compelling influences in the various forms of social media, among other things, that if left unchecked in the hands of children can have the opposite effects."

Gullani said he has initiated three forward-looking steps to confront this problem in Hampden County with the hope that we can prevent future harm, encourage empathy and build stronger communities that are free of hate. Those include a curriculum around hate and bullying being delivered to the school; a promising partnership with the attorney general's office to create a specific program to more deeply address and remediate the harmful forces of bigotry, racism and bullying in schools; and a new state police unit called Hate crimes Awareness Response Team (HARP) that will instruct police departments and school personnel across western Massachusetts on best practices regarding hate crimes and bullying within schools.

"While I am optimistic that these initiatives will have a meaningful influence, I implore everyone to take their own steps to fight racism and bullying," Gullani said. "We have a responsibility to call out ignorance and hate when we witness it. We have a responsibility to promote tolerance and empathy. And when we accept this duty we all have a powerful impact on our communities."

"These acts of kindness and courage can reverberate with equal or greater strength than the very acts of hate for which we’re here today," he continued. "It is my hope that this unequivocal message that hate and bullying will not be tolerated in this county will deter people from similar behavior."

The DA said he hopes the community will surround those affected by hate and bullying with love and support so that the victims can become resilient survivors.

He also hopes that people who made mistakes and those who witnessed them will learn from them so as not to repeat them.

"I hope that our collective efforts to grow empathy, compassion and tolerance will overcome the forces of apathy, malice and intolerance," he said. "This is not an issue exclusive to a place, an age group or to a particular race. This is a universal issue that we must face as one unified group. Let's move forward with hope, resiliency and commitment to justice."