A man is accused of committing a hate crime on a Monroe High School student.
MONROE, WASHINGTON – After making specific death threats and racial insults targeting another student at Monroe High School, the parent of a Monroe High School student is facing felony hate crime charges.
William Cunningham, 39, was identified as the suspect.
According to the Monroe Police Department, the accusation arises from an incident at the high school on Nov. 10, 2021, in which a white female student racially harassed a Black student following an argument.
The victim and her teenage daughter had a quarrel in the school parking lot after the girl allegedly shoved one of the victim’s classmates in a school hallway earlier in the day. Video of the argument shows the victim’s boyfriend and the daughter’s boyfriend shoving one other, according to court documents.
Following the altercation, the daughter approached the victim and reportedly used a video call to show her father the victim’s face. According to court filings, cell phone footage shows the father making death threats to the victim, claiming “if I see you, I’ll murder you,” and calling the victim racist insults.
On social media, the video gained a lot of traction. The defendant then informed authorities that if the victim and his father did not leave the teenage girl alone, he would kill them.
According to court filings, while Monroe police were investigating the incident, they discovered the victim’s father and adolescent daughter showed up to his office and followed him around for 20 minutes, resulting in the pair being barred from the premises.
On Jan. 19, the father will be arraigned in Snohomish County Superior Court via phone.
Following claims of racism and prejudice in the Monroe School District, the charges were filed. The school board put Superintendent Dr. Justin Blasko on administrative leave in December after teachers, parents, and students demanded that he quit.
When children targeted other pupils, one instructor told KING 5 that school administrators looked the other way.
The district has said that it intends to employ a third-party investigator to “collect data concerning various current challenges affecting the district to assist the board in making informed choices.”
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