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US News

Teen charged with hate crime for ‘Slave for sale’ Craigslist post

By
Joshua Rhett Miller
Published Nov. 21, 2019
Updated Nov. 21, 2019, 12:44 p.m. ET

A 14-year-old Illinois boy is facing hate crime charges for allegedly posting a photo of a black classmate on Craigslist alongside a caption that read, “Slave for sale.”

The boy, who is white, appeared in DuPage County juvenile court on Wednesday on two counts of committing a hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct. He attended the hearing with his parents but did not speak, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Prosecutors said the freshman at Naperville Central High School took a picture of his classmate, who is also 14, as they sat at a lunch table on Thursday. The teen then posted the “beyond disturbing” photo and caption on the classified ads website along with other offensive language, including racial slurs, prosecutors said.

The “beyond disturbing” listing (above) was posted to Craigslist on Thursday, prosecutors said.ABC7 Chicago

“Slave for sale (Naperville),” the advertisement read, according to screenshots posted on social media.

Prosecutors characterized the boy’s alleged actions as “serious and aggravating,” behavior that jeopardized the victim’s safety.

“Hate crimes have no place in our society and will not be tolerated in DuPage County,” State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement obtained by the newspaper. “Anyone, regardless of age, accused of such disgraceful actions will be charged accordingly.”

The boy’s mother told a judge during Wednesday’s hearing that she has since taken away his phone. The ad has also been removed from Craigslist, the newspaper reports.

An attorney for the teen said he’s serving an in-school suspension for the alleged post and is set to meet with the victim along with the school’s principal to apologize. The two teens are friends, attorney Harry Smith told a judge.

It’s unclear what punishment the teen may face if convicted, but a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office told the Associated Press that he will “face probation at a minimum” if found guilty. He’s due back in court on Dec. 18.

Other teens at the school, meanwhile, said the post has outraged many black students and their parents, WLS-TV reports.

“I witnessed it on Snapchat at first,” said student Tejia Gilford. “A lot of people were sharing it, saying it was wrong.”

Veronica Lewis said her son, Jason, has also been victimized by racial discrimination from other students at the school, but did not divulge specifics.

“This is not surprising because if they had a handle on it, these things would not be happening,” Lewis told the station. “I think they need to keep talking about the real issues, how it’s important we not have these situations because in 2019 we are still dealing with this, and that is completely unacceptable.”