A California vice principal went viral after he was caught calling the cops on a group of Black teenagers he described as "Section 8" and "ghetto girls."
Fred Veenendaal, the vice principal of Sunnyside High School in Fresno, California, is being accused of racially profiling and harassing Black teens who were walking through his gated community, per Revolt.
In a viral TikTok video, Veenendaal appeared to call the police on three girls in a housing subdivision.
“Officers, you got three girls here,” he said during the call. “Three Section 8 people here, ghetto girls.”
It's unclear what unfolded before the recording began. At one point during the video, the vice principal told the girls, “I’m a board of director here.”
The Fresno Unified School District said in a statement that it had launched an investigation into the incident.
“We are aware of the video circulating, and the District started an investigation into the matter early Monday. The labels used in the video do not align with the high standards we have for our Fresno Unified leaders and staff,” the district said. “Because this is a personnel matter, we will not be able to disclose any resulting information from the investigation. We want to assure our families that having respectful, inclusive, and loving adults serving in our school is of the utmost importance to Sunnyside and our district as a whole.”
Veenendaal is reportedly on administrative leave amid the investigation.
Mom of 17-year-old Kyra Schrubb, one of the teens involved in the incident, said her daughter and friends regularly pass through the gated community during their walk to the store, per ABC7. Schrubb's mom noted that the teens have access because one of their friends lives in the neighborhood.
Schrubb said Veenendaal had no reason for calling the cops.
“You didn’t have to do all that, you didn’t have to racial profile for no reason,” she said. “I feel so bad because like as a Black woman, I should be able to walk, you know, and do, just walk peacefully without, you know, people being racist for no reason.”
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