COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (AP) — Five Florida middle schoolers are facing battery and hate crime charges after police say they attacked white students using racial taunts and slurs. Coconut Creek police said four white children between 11 and 12 years old were assaulted Wednesday by the group that yelled things like “it’s opposite day” and “brown power.”
The attacks happened at a community center where children gather before the first bell at Lyons Creek Middle School, according to police reports. The charges are misdemeanors although the hate crime allegation could trigger a felony count depending on decisions by prosecutors. Coconut Creek is a suburb of Fort Lauderdale.
