Family calls middle school scuffle caught on camera racially motivated

Warning: to viewers, some of the video in this story is graphic.

Cellphone video captured a disturbing scene as fists flew between girls squaring off in a middle school bathroom.

In the video, one girl was on the receiving end of a barrage of punches. According to that girl’s family, the fight left her with a concussion.

It happened at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres.

The district said in a statement their investigation shows this was a mutual fight between two willing participants, but the family of the 14-year-old girl you see taking the brunt of the beating said that was far from the truth.

They believe this was a racially motivated attack on their granddaughter because she is half black and half Jewish.

For the grandparents of the 8th grader taking the beating, it’s almost impossible to watch the video.

They said that for the last year, their granddaughter with Autism has been bullied at Harns Marsh Middle, and although they’ve reported it to the school, nothing has been done.

This fight happened a day after her 14th birthday, and they said as bad as it is with how much bullying she has endured, they know it could have ended a lot worse.

“We were already contemplating pulling her out of that school and putting her somewhere else, but there were no openings, and then we got the phone call,” said Sally Fuster, grandmother of the 8th grader. “I got the phone call from my daughter. She said, ‘Oh my God, Mom, I got to go to the school. Something happened with Bella.'”

Fuster said the concussion has had a profound effect on her granddaughter’s quality of life.

“She does have recurring headaches, and she has pain in the side of her temple. She has pain when she swallows,” she said, “and they said that she needs an orthopedist because there may be some vertebrates out of place that could cause her further problems later on.”

Since this fight last week, the family pulled their granddaughter and her sister out of Harns Marsh Middle.

They also filed a police report but said they opted not to press charges against the other child. A spokesperson with the school district sent WINK News this statement:

“We do not tolerate fighting.  Students involved in fights are disciplined per the Code of Conduct and may face legal consequences. Our investigation determined the students involved had an ongoing disagreement and met as planned. The entire incident was recorded and there is no mention of race or religion.“

The police report also states that the other child claims it was Sally and Charles’s granddaughter who made the decision to meet in the bathroom.

Charles and Sally disagree, they said their granddaughter was attacked, and they said they are speaking out so what happened to their granddaughter doesn’t happen to anyone else.

“Why do we always have to wait for a tragedy or current for somebody to die and somebody to go to jail for manslaughter? In order to do something about it? Why can we do prevention?” Fuster said.

“We need some help. We need the governor to send some help, you know, because our kids are our future.”