Viral video of MS Coast middle school girls hitting young Black child sparks outrage

A video appearing to show a group of female D’Iberville Middle School students slapping and taunting a younger boy has enraged parents and community members after it circulated on social media.

The apparent bullying incident, which took place off school grounds, was reported to the D’Iberville police, who made a Facebook post about the investigation that included a message from the school’s principal.

Police “have identified everyone in the video along with making contact with all the parents,” the post said. “The D’Iberville Police Department is taking this matter very seriously and has made contact with several people to stop the spread of this video involving these juveniles.

The video was made private by its owner and is no longer viewable on Facebook. The Sun Herald viewed an edited recording of the video that showed a montage of a group of girls slapping a younger boy.

The video appeared to be filmed by the girls who were involved in the incident.

Commenters on Facebook noted that the students seen in the video hitting the boy are all white, and the victim is Black.

At one point in the video,the boy can be heard saying, “Let me go.” In several of the clips, one student holds him down while another slaps or pushes him.

“All right, looks like you’re gonna get slapped. What do you want, your face? A punch right here?” one of the girls says to the boy at another point, before hitting him in the head.

None of the students’ identities or ages have been made public. Police are working with the school to investigate the incident.

In the police post, D’Iberville Middle School principal Matthew Elias asked students to “refrain from any an all discussions or social media posts regarding the said video while at school.”

Some replied by criticizing the principal’s statement for not condemning the bullying act, instead focusing on the need to stop circulating the video.

“Y’all care more about the video getting exposure [than] you do the little boy,” wrote one commenter.

Elias declined to add anything further on Monday afternoon.

Police and Elias have not yet said if the students will face criminal charges or disciplinary action at school.

The Sun Herald has requested comment from D’Iberville police and the Harrison County School District.

This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 4:44 PM.