Adeel Malik
Someone is making death threats against a ten-year-old girl at her school in Framingham.
The girl is a fifth grader at Hemenway Elementary and the two notes directed at her have now drawn the attention of Framingham police.
In Boston, Massachusetts on Friday morning, the Muslim youngster went to her classroom cubby and found a note calling her a “terrorist” as reported by About Islam.
“She was visibly upset, she was crying,” her uncle Jamaal Siddiqui told Boston CBC. “That’s not what Islam teaches, and that’s not what Muslims are.”
The principal of Hemenway Elementary visited each classroom urging the culprit to come forward with an apology and sent an email to parents condemning the incident.
“Hate is not brought from birth, it is embedded into a human being either by parents or their surroundings,” Siddiqui said.
On Tuesday morning, a second note was discovered, this time saying “I will kill you.”
“Just the thought of that makes me feel sick to my stomach,” Siddiqui said.
At this moment, the principal quickly brought the superintendent and police onboard. However, the family of the girl pulled her out of class.
“If we take her out of school it’s just going to show that we can’t stand up to the situation,” Siddiqui said.
The principal says many classmates have rallied around the student and some disgusted parents did the same.
“It’s absolutely devastating and I don’t want this to happen in my child’s school at all,” one parent said.
“It’s nuts basically,” another parent said. “Hard to believe this thing could happen.”
Investigations
Currently, Framingham officials are investigating the incident, as police have not been able to ID the handwriting or trace the notebook paper.
“It is not lost on me the harm these letters have caused the family and the greater Muslim community,” Superintendent Robert A. Tremblay wrote in a letter to the community posted on the district’s website.
“I want to reassure you that the Framingham Public Schools stands with you,” Tremblay wrote. “We will not accept hate. We will stand united against it.”
Police are working to identify the person who wrote the letters, and the district’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Community Development is conducting an internal investigation, according to Tremblay.
“While we are extremely disappointed in this turn of events, we remain committed to equity and justice,” he wrote.
“As we continue our investigations we will continue to use this as a teachable moment to ensure all students learn how to create and sustain a welcoming community for all.”
The family tried to support the young victim of hate.
“It’s sad, it’s sad that kids at such a young age have to deal with this,” Siddiqui said.
