CA: East Bay student’s ‘terror’ video defended

A high school student who won his race for student body president after showing an inflammatory video depicting teens as armed “Muslim terrorists” will be able to keep the position after challenging the San Ramon Valley Unified School District in court.

The video, which the teen posted on his Twitter account in February, appeared to be a joke gone bad. When school officials later attempted to yank away the win, the student sought legal action.

The district backed off after the 17-year-old student claimed his free speech rights were being violated

Without offering details, the school district said Monday the matter has been resolved. But the district’s legal response offers disturbing details of the incident that created a public outcry at the district, which has been rocked this year by several racist incidents.

According to court documents, there is extensive imagery of students using fake firearms — and the video briefly shows what appears to be a real firearm —  ostensibly to assault, rob and kill each other. The video also suggests a student engaged in a sexual act when armed “terrorists” abduct him from his bedroom, according to a court document.

In the video, the “abductors” shove used tissues into the boy’s face while another begins slapping his naked stomach, according to a court document. Another scene portrays the “terrorists” torturing him.

“The video makes repeated racist and insensitive references to Middle Eastern people, stereotyping them based on their dress, accents and language, names, manner of praying and religious dietary restrictions,” the document states.

The school district attorneys contend the district was justified in preventing the teen from participating in extracurricular activities — in this case, the leadership role as student body president.

The teen said in his petition that the video was meant to be a parody of action movies, and contained no obscene, libelous or slanderous conduct.

SOURCE