A VIDEO that appears to show a black high school football player being forced to sit inside a locker filled with banana peels has led to a police investigation.
In the video, which shows players from Moline High School in Illinois, one player can be heard telling his teammate that he will “break both [his] knees” if he doesn’t sit in the locker.
The 11-second video began circulating on social media on Friday, and Moline Police confirmed that they became aware of it by that evening.
The football team was out of town for a game that evening, but when they returned late Friday night, police were waiting to question them.
Police Chief Darren Gault released a statement saying the players involved were “all friends,” but still described the behavior seen in the video as “a disturbing racist scene.”
“The students directly involved in the video are all friends,” Gaunt said.
“Regardless or these facts, we all agree that this is a disgusting way to treat a fellow teammate, a fellow human and most certainly, a friend.”
The students who were involved were not named.
The police department concluded their investigation on Saturday, and turned their findings over to Rock Island County State’s Attorney Dora Villarreal for review, Gaunt said.
He also confirmed that the school district will “conduct a separate investigation of any school code violations or district policies and those will be different than criminal law.”
The statement continues to call the behavior “unacceptable” whether the students viewed it as a joke or not.
“This is a teaching moment for everyone and a reminder that we can do better,” Gaunt added.
“We can treat people better. We can be better friends. We can be better teammates. We can be better people.
“We can also stand up and confront situations when they are wrong.”
The school districts spokeswoman Candace Sountris released a statement saying, “the vile behavior depicted in the video does not represent our core values and has no place in our learning community.”
“Clearly, we have work to do. Decisive action will be taken upon the conclusion of both the law enforcement and the school districts internal investigation,” she added.
