Eight Men Out: Mahopac District Suspends Eight Students After Racist Tweets

Eight students from the Mahopac school district had been suspended as of last Friday for racist tweets, leaving the school community under attack and on the defensive.

In an interview Friday afternoon, Superintendent Thomas Manko said after a thorough investigation, it was determined that eight students directed inappropriate and racist tweets towards the Mount Vernon basketball team and its fans following a tense Feb. 27 playoff came between the two schools.

Originally, only three students were suspended, but Manko had previously stated more suspensions would be passed down, which occurred last week. None of the students were on the basketball team and the superintendent doesn’t foresee any additional students being suspended.

“I can’t say we’re done,” Manko said. “But I think we’re close to being done.”

Some of the abusive tweets included, “Tough loss boys (Mahopac), but at least we can talk to our dads about #Vernon” and “Anyone else thinking: Where does Mount Vernon get the money to even have sports team.” More racially charged, another tweet read, “That’s why you shouldn’t let monkeys out of their zoo.”

Manko, on behalf of the entire school district, expressed deep regret for the “misbehavior and poor decision that some of our students made.” He went on to say the district is taking the actions of those students and other allegations seriously.

While Manko couldn’t go into the specifics of the suspensions for the eight students, he did note suspensions typically range from 1-5 days and further punishment could be enforced. He also said the parents of those students have fully accepted the consequences handed down by the district.

“They know it was a poor choice, horrible choice,” he said. “They know what they did was wrong.”

At a press conference at Mount Vernon district headquarters Friday afternoon, interim Superintendent Judith Johnson didn’t mince words when criticizing the Mahopac boys basketball team and its fans. She sent a letter to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Commissioner of Education John King detailing alleged civil rights violation of bullying, cyberbullying and racial harassment.

Among racist remarks expressed on Twitter, Johnson also said it was confirmed a Confederate Flag was brought to the game and waved at one point.

Last Thursday, there was a meeting with Mount Vernon and Mahopac school officials, and staff from both the governor’s office and education commissioner’s office. Johnson said the Mount Vernon school district would be seeking sanctions against Mahopac, citing the Student Dignity Act by created by New York.

Johnson also renewed her call to see the entire boys basketball program suspended for next season. During the press conference, Johnson said there is Mount Vernon student testimony that alleges racism directed at the Mount Vernon team. Johnson said Mount Vernon players heard racial slurs from Mahopac players during and after the game.

According to testimony from eight Mount Vernon players and a Mahopac parent not identified, a Mahopac player didn’t shake their hands and stated, “that none of you ugly gorillas deserve it.” Other racial slurs were allegedly said during and after the game, according to the players’ testimony.

Mount Vernon head coach Bob Cimmino said during the press conference that “the sportsmanship fell to an all-time low and the racial hatred that we all felt was disgusting.”

While pushing for a suspension, Johnson said she “had no idea” how many Mahopac players might have directed a racist taunt at Mount Vernon’s players.

Manko believes a year long suspension is excessive and said 35-40 people that attended the game were interviewed by Mahopac Athletic Director John Augusta including all three referees, workers at the scorer’s table, all the Mahopac coaches, and all of the Mahopac players and none of them heard racial slurs being used.

“We’re not saying that there weren’t such statements made by our players toward their players,” Manko said. “But we can’t corroborate them. You still have to have evidence.”

Manko also said some fans from Mount Vernon acted in an inappropriate manner toward Mahopac students, including an instance where a Mahopac cheerleader was struck.

Johnson during the press conference rebuffed that, stating none of the Mount Vernon fans misbehaving were students and she can’t control the actions of adults.

There’s a plan for school administrators, school board members, both coaches, and representatives from student government to meet at some point in the near future. When asked if both teams might meet up, Johnson said it wasn’t being considered at this time.

While Johnson said punishment would carry the most weight to move forward, Manko said he wants to see his district move on. He also stressed the actions of “eight or so students do not define a student percent body.”

“99.99 percent of the student didn’t make poor choices, they made a good choice,” Manko said. “This isn’t who we are.”