Cobb Student Accused Of Antisemitic Graffiti Suspended; But He's Innocent, Attorney Says

EAST COBB, GA — The attorney for an East Cobb student who is accused of drawing antisemitic graffiti on a school bathroom wall said his client was suspended for 10 days for the incident — but claims he's innocent.

Last month, swastikas and antisemitic messages "Hail Hitler" and "Heil Hitler" were found in the bathrooms of Pope and Lassiter high schools on two separate occasions, within a week of each other. Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the students accused of the incidents faced disciplinary charges, including a disciplinary tribunal process.

"I want to be very clear: the district does not and will not tolerate hate in any form," Ragsdale said at the Sept. 23 school board meeting. "I appreciate that statistically, in a district of 110,000 students in 114 schools, incidents like this may occur, and they're extremely rare in CCSD. Regardless, the district refuses to dismiss the incident as some sort of prank."

But Justin Spizman, an attorney for Hawkins Spizman Fortas, told Patch that his client — a Pope High School student, though he couldn't share his name as he is a minor — was the first student to report the graffiti, not the one who drew it.

The student reported the drawings on a Wednesday; gave a statement on Thursday; and by Friday, was told he would be suspended and then expelled, Spizman said.

Threat of expulsion comes with a right to a tribunal, Spizman said. To prepare for the hearing, Spizman requested about two pages of evidence and documentation from the district proving his client was responsible — but he said he got only a handful of documents he asked for.

"We demanded that we move forward with that tribunal, and upon beginning the process of acquiring information and reviewing evidence, we very quickly recognized that they had very little evidence of any crime that was committed, nonetheless a crime by my client," Spizman said. "My client was the young man that reported the antisemitism ... instead of commending him for his courage, they blamed him for the act, and they have absolutely no hard evidence that he did it."

Spizman said all the district could prove was that he was in the bathroom around the time the graffiti was scrawled on the wall — but then district canceled the scheduled tribunal, where it would have had to present evidence, according to Spizman.

The district offered to let the Pope student return to school after the 10-day suspension, and that would be the extent of the punishment; however, district officials would not remove the suspension from the student's permanent record, which Spizman was requesting on behalf of his client.

"You accuse the kid of being an antisemite, you suspend him and the second he retains a lawyer and begins the process of asking you to provide all the evidence and demanding his due process, you reverse course and say, 'We think a 10-day suspension is acceptable for this crime you committed,' and that's ridiculous too, right?" Spizman said. "If they believe he did this, and they had evidence supporting it, they should prosecute him to the fullest extent of the tribunals. But the reality is that we knew from day one that they had no evidence."

A district spokesperson sent the following statement to Patch regarding the status of the tribunal hearing:

“Due to federal and state privacy laws, we are unable to speak to the specifics of this matter.”

Spizman said he and his client are looking at possible legal remedies going forward.

Related:

• Students Accused Of Antisemitic Graffiti Face Disciplinary Action
• Swastikas Found Inside Pope High School Bathroom
  
• Swastikas, 'Heil Hitler' Found In Lassiter High School Bathrooms