Six Southwick middle schoolers have been charged in connection with allegedly facilitating and participating in a “hateful, racist” online chat that included threats and a mock slave auction, the Hampden County DA’s Office said in a release Thursday.
“Hatred and racism have no place in this community,” said Hampden DA Anthony Gulluni. “And where this behavior becomes criminal, I will ensure that we act, and act with swift resolve, as we did here, to uncover it and bring it to the light of justice. There is no question that the alleged behavior of these six juveniles is vile, cruel and contemptible.”
The group chat began on Snapchat in the late evening of Feb. 8, the release said, allegedly created by a group of 8th grade students from Southwick. The ensuing chat involved numerous juveniles, though some exited and entered the chat at various stages.
Sent through Friday, Feb. 9, graphic messages from several students included “notions of violence toward people of color, racial slurs, derogatory pictures and videos, and a mock slave auction directed at two particular juveniles,” the release stated.
That Friday, the existence of the chat was reported to Southwick Regional School authorities.
By Monday, Feb. 12, school personnel had reviewed the messages and suspended several students, including six students criminally charged, immediately as an emergency removal from school. The Juvenile Court Chief of the DA’s Office was also notified by the Southwick Police Department of the incident that Monday.
The students’ suspensions were formalized later in the week, with two students notably removed for 25 days and one removed for 45 days.
On Thursday, Feb. 15, the DA was personally notified of the incident and directed the State Police to launch an investigation.
One students was charged with interference with civil rights, threat to commit a crime and witness interference, and a second juvenile was charged with interference with civil rights and threat to commit a crime. The remaining four were charged with threat to commit a crime. The suspects were not identified because of their ages.
Throughout the investigation, the DA met personally with identified targets of the messages and their families, the release said, and prosecutors and investigators worked to put together the investigation.
Gulluni called seeing the behavior of the middle school students in the community in 2024 “discouraging, unsettling, and deeply frustrating” in the release Thursday.
The DA’s office, Gulluni said, intends to “appropriately punish those whose alleged behavior displayed a capacity for such hatred and cruelty and, ultimately, amounted to chargeable criminal conduct” and deter similar future behavior in the community.
In addition to the charges, the DA said, his office will be delivering curriculum on hate and bullying to Southwick schools; work with the Attorney General’s office on more specific programs to address the issue of bigotry, racism, and bullying in schools; and participate in instruction regarding hate crimes and school bullying for police departments and school personnel across western Massachusetts.
“I hope that our collective efforts to promote empathy, compassion, and tolerance will overcome the forces of apathy, malice, and intolerance,” Gulluni said. “This is not an issue exclusive to a place, or an age group, or a race. This is a universal issue that we must face as one, unified community.”