http://www.local6.com/news/2556305/detail.html

Anti-Black Graffiti Tied To Black H.S. Student

POSTED: 1:22 p.m. EDT October 15, 2003

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- School officials said anti-black graffiti scrawled on a bathroom stall at Wellesley High School was the work of a black teenager enrolled in the school through the Metco desegregation program.

The graffiti, discovered Oct. 7, said the school would "burn" on Oct. 15 or 17 and that "there will be no blacks." Police were investigating and the public had expressed concern about racism in the school.

Wellesley police planned to charge the 16-year-old boy with making threats and malicious destruction of a school building, Deputy Chief William Brooks said. The boy could also be expelled.

The boy's lawyer, Michael Rich, said he hopes to work out a compromise with school officials to avoid criminal charges.

"The way I understand it, he is a rather confused young man and was feeling pressured and emotionally distraught, and that may have led to whatever he did or has admitted to doing," Rich said.

The graffiti read: "On October 15 or 17 the school will burn and there will be no blacks in our schools." Swastikas were drawn nearby.

The boy denied writing a separate racial slur found on the same stall. A handwriting expert was brought in to analyze the writing and teachers were studying it to see if they could recognize the handwriting.