Video shows a male student, who reportedly identifies as transgender, brawling with teen girls at Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported on Thursday.
Students and parents told the outlet the transgender student in the video “has a history of erratic and uncomfortable behavior,” according to the report. Students said that while fights are an every-week occurrence at the school, the last two fights involved this same transgender student.
“He’s [in the] girls’ locker room, using girls’ restrooms,” MLK student Aiden Vermeir alleged. “He spit on my friends that are girls, females. He shows his genitals in the locker room.”
One parent, who spoke anonymously to the news outlet, said she pulled her teen out of school because of safety concerns. She also said she complained to the school but did not receive a proper response.
“Everything was on the hush hush. They did not want to talk to us about it,” the parent said.
A mother of a female sophomore, who also wanted to remain anonymous, told the outlet the school should keep the transgender student away from girls’ spaces because he “presents as masculine.”
The Riverside Unified School District released a statement to the outlet, saying the student at the center of the controversy no longer attends the school.
“A video depicting an altercation involving students at Martin Luther King High School has been widely circulated on social media this week. This matter has had the full attention of Riverside Unified School District administration and is being addressed expeditiously,” the district said in the statement.
“Since the incident occurred, District staff has been working to ensure the safety and rights of all students are considered and promptly responded to. We are able to verify that the student involved will no longer be attending King High School,” the statement continues. “We encourage those who have taken interest in this story to respect the confidential nature of our specific discussions with those involved and the efforts we will continue to make to ensure we provide an appropriate learning environment for each student as required by law.”