San Ramon student victim of racist, homophobic bullying on Snapchat

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Thursday, May 12, 2016
San Ramon student victim of racist, homophobic bullying on Snapchat
An East Bay middle school student and his family are demanding action after a homophobic, racist and anti-Semetic Snapchat video surfaced.

SAN RAMON, Calif. (KGO) -- An East Bay middle school student and his family are demanding action after a homophobic, racist and anti-Semetic Snapchat video surfaced.

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Harrison Wharton is an eighth grader at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon. A friend showed him the Snapchat video one of his classmates had posted. In the video a fellow student could be heard saying racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic slurs all aimed at Harrison.

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"I want people to know this happening and it's not a joke," Harrison Wharton said. "It was hurtful in the beginning, but I don't really get hurt by that stuff anymore."

"Finally, he has proof and now he has power," said his mother Shelle Martin.

Harrison's parents are shocked and disappointed.

"It's troubling. It's disturbing. Frankly, infuriating and frankly pretty cowardly," his father John Wharton said.

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"We deserve an apology. My child deserves a sincere apology," Shelle Martin said.

In a statement, the school district said it cannot speak to individual student discipline issues, but said they "take all reports related to student behavior very seriously, investigate, and address them."

"I hope something comes out of this video," said Harrison Wharton.

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"We're not done, we're going to pursue this from a civil right's perspective," said John Wharton.

Harrison's parents said they haven't received an apology from the family of the student who posted the video.