It’s been three months since two Colorado students duked it out in the schoolyard after one of them who was known for wearing Nazi regalia struck a pose symbolic of the Ku Klux Klan at school, but the incident has regained national attention after video of the fight went viral this week.
According to The Denver Post, a Twitter user from Baltimore shared the clip on his timeline Friday, where it quickly circulated the social media site.
The fight, which occurred in August, unfolded during lunch period at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo., when a white student wearing a green military-style jacket was doing the “T-pose.” The pose is popular among avid video gamers to show dominance but historically has also been used by the Ku Klux Klan to represent a burning cross, according to Douglas County Lt. Lori Bronner.
Bronner told NBC 26 an African-American student saw the white student doing the pose and walked over to confront him. The Black student then spat on the white student, after which the white student replied in kind.
As the Black student appeared to walk away, he suddenly spun back around and punched the white student in the face, sending the freshman tumbling to the ground. The white student managed to get up, however, grab a landscaping rock and hurl it at the Black student, authorities said. He missed.
In the video, the Black student is seen chasing after the teen in the military jacket and repeatedly kicking him as the student curls up into a ball on the ground. At some point during the attack, Bronner said the white student called the Black student a racial slur.
It wasn’t long before security arrived to break up the fight.
“We’ve had no other situations like this,” Bronner told NBC 26, adding that these types of incidents are rare.
It was just last month, however, that a racial slur was found scrawled on the school’s gymnasium wall. The racist graffiti was a combination of the N-word and “igloo.” Karl Coleman, one of the few African-American coaches at the predominately white high school, said he felt the vandalism was aimed at them and criticized school leadership for its handling of the situation.
“I thought it was racist,” Coleman told Fox Denver at the time. “All the Black coaches there thought it was racist.”
The August fight left the Black student facing charges of assault, harassment and disorderly conduct, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said. Meanwhile, the white student was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and criminal attempted assault. Neither student was charged with a hate crime.
“Principal Michael Weaver told parents that there was an altercation between two students,” Paula Hans, spokesperson for the Douglas County School District, told The Denver Post. “The administration worked with the students and families directly involved as well as the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.”
School officials said the white student was wearing a military jacket at the time, however, it did not have any Nazi markings on it.
Students interviewed by the newspaper said the white student is known for wearing Nazi symbols, and a review of the student’s Instagram account revealed multiple photos of him sporting Nazi uniforms.
It’s unclear if either student was suspended or expelled following the incident.
Watch more in the clip below.