Bethel Park teen suspended after posting picture
A 17-year-old special education student at Bethel Park High School has been suspended for nine days after he posted a SnapChat “selfie” with a confederate flag with the words “they should all hang” superimposed on the picture.
The Caucasian male was allegedly punched twice by an African-American female student Oct. 22 after a “racial bullying meeting” that the family’s attorney said was more like a “pep rally” and excluded a majority of the school body. After the altercation, the student went home and posted the photo to the “self-destruct” social media photo sharing service SnapChat.
“I never meant for it to be racist or anything – I never meant for anyone to hang, I meant (the flags),” the junior classman told KDKA.
The student’s father, Joseph Pusateri, said the district has singled out his son as a racist without proper evidence.
“Kids are listening to a lot of country music these days and kind of acting like rednecks and stuff like that,” Pusateri told KDKA.
The student’s lawyer, Karen Ubranik-Gangine, said Pusateri is being denied due process and school security cameras have video footage of the altercation involving the female student. Urbanik-Gangine said her client has attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities.
“Mr. Pusateri was taken into the principal’s office (Oct. 23) and his parents were called to pick him up. They weren’t told why, they weren’t told about the assault on their son,” Urbanik-Gangine said.
“The father started asking why the photo had anything to do with school policy. As for the video, we’re being stonewalled. We’ve asked to see that as well as schedule a meeting, required by federal law, to evaluate the punishment given to a student with special education needs. That’s scheduled for Oct. 31, six days into his punishment for which we don’t even know is valid.”
“My client is looking to be vindicated, and we’re looking to solve the situation amicably, but if the boy is cast as a scapegoat or the district is found to be stepping over the line, we’ll take appropriate action,” she said.
District spokeswoman Vicki Flotta said anyone in the district is prohibited by law from publicly discussing any matter involving student discipline. It’s not clear if the female student has been disciplined.