Laguna Hills High Student Filmed Yelling Racist Insults

LAGUNA HILLS, CA — A video shared on Instagram appeared to show a student from Laguna Hills High School shouting racist insults at a Black Portola High School athlete during a basketball game between the two schools.

The person yelling is not seen in the video but can be heard shouting racist remarks at athlete Makai Brown such as "Chain him up" and "Who let him out of his cage?"

Saddleback Valley Unified School District, of which Laguna Hills High School is a part, confirmed to Patch that the person making the remarks was a student. The student was not identified.

The student was "counseled, and immediate, appropriate consequences and discipline have taken place," Superintendent Crystal Turner said in a statement.

"The language and connotations expressed by the words used do not represent the culture, attitudes or feelings of the students and staff of [Laguna Hills High School], nor those of Saddleback Valley Unified School District," Turner said.

Sabrina Brown, Makai Brown's mother, shared the video on her Instagram account and wrote that her family remained "up in arms" over the incident.

"What [my son] heard directed 100 percent to him is contained in this video, but these disgusting, racist insults continued throughout the entire game footage," she said.

Sabrina Brown accused the boy's basketball program at Laguna Hills High School of fostering "a culture of aggression, unsportsmanlike conduct and racism." She said David Yates, the program's head coach, was verbally abusive and aggressive toward her son.

Turner said in her statement that administrators have since attended sports practices to "discuss the seriousness of the incident with players and coaches."

"Appropriate personnel actions, while required to remain confidential, have taken place," she said.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer weighed in on the incident, saying in a statement he shared on Twitter that it was "despicable" and "hate will not be tolerated here in Orange County or anywhere."

"Words can hurt just as much as fists, and being the target of a hate-filled rant, whether privately or in a crowded gymnasium, is something that will haunt you forever," he said. "No one should have the power to make us feel inferior to anyone else because of how we look or where we come from."