A 14-year-old Oak Park and River Forest High School student has been charged with distributing an anti-Semitic image during a school assembly on Friday, according to a statement released Monday morning by Oak Park police.
The juvenile faces the charge of dissemination of an obscene message and is scheduled to appear in Cook County Juvenile Court on Nov. 14.
On Friday morning, the juvenile allegedly used the iPhone app AirDrop to send an image of a swastika from somewhere in the high school’s auditorium to students’ cellphones during a Tradition of Excellence ceremony, according to an email sent to families today from Karin Sullivan, the district’s communications director.
That day, police said they had identified the juvenile after working with high school officials and security staff.
Police said the image led to a second incident, “when a student reportedly told a parent two students were talking about shooting up the school, prompting the parent to contact police. The report turned out to be a misunderstanding.”
Anyone with information on hate speech at OPRF or in the community is asked to call the Oak Park Police Department at 708-386-3800. Information may be provided anonymously by calling 708-434-1636 or online at www.oak-park.us/crimetip.
