Bathroom vandalism at Malibu High targets African American students

The names were scrawled on a single tile in a boy’s restroom at Malibu High School, all seven of them male African American students. Written next to them was the note, “On April 14th . . . boom.”

The vandalism has shaken nerves on the 1,300-student campus, where fewer than three dozen students are black. The tagging was discovered by campus security last week. Principal Mark Kelly recognized the April 14 date as the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and immediately called authorities, concerned that the message was a threat of violence.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said Friday they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime targeting black students at the school.

“You can’t take the risk of discounting any threats anymore,” said Lt. Scott Chew, a watch commander for the Sheriff’s Department who took the initial call.

Kelly instructed all teachers to address the vandalism in their classes and on Wednesday sent a strongly worded letter home to parents.

“To isolate people by race, ethnicity, culture, gender, personal orientation, disability, religion, or any other defining feature diminishes the safety of all,” wrote Kelly, who has headed the school for four years.

Kelly said he asked sheriff’s deputies to patrol the campus, which includes both a high school and middle school, in recent days and again April 14.

Students leaving campus Friday for the start of a two-week spring break called the incident disturbing.

“It definitely surprised me because I’ve always felt safe here,” said Adrian Mitchell, 13, an African American eighth-grader who has traveled to the campus from his home in Santa Monica since sixth grade. “But to think someone would feel that way scares me. I’m hoping it was just a stupid prank because there’s always a bad one in the bunch.”

His mother, Laura Mitchell, a former basketball coach at the school, said there had been other racially tinged incidents in recent years, including tagging two months ago in front of the school that contained a racial slur about blacks, adding a death threat and the words “Locals Only.”

Kelly said he believed that incident was not directly tied to the school and the language was immediately painted over.

Only 2% -- about 30 -- of the high school’s students are black, and most come into the school on special vouchers from other cities. Tensions over outsider status on the campus, which is more than 80% white, were reported three years ago. At that time African American students organized the first celebration of Black History Month, partly in response to messages such as “MLO” carved into desks, an abbreviation for “Malibu Locals Only.”

Still, students at the school said they have felt largely untouched by racial tensions in other districts.

“Our school is really safe. I mean, we don’t have to go through metal detectors, and all get along pretty well,” said Simone Khoubian, an 18-year-old senior. She felt the impact of the tagging earlier this week when she saw two African American female students burst into tears outside class when they were told about the incident.

Sheriff’s officials said they were still seeking suspects in the case, which potentially carries a charge of vandalism with a hate threat.

As the criminal investigation continues, school administrators said they were grappling with how they would discipline anyone tied to the incident.

“If it’s just a prank, we don’t want to overblow things,” said Peggy Harris, director of curriculum and instruction for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. “But on the other hand, you just don’t want to write it off as a prank, because even if it is, it is still unacceptable.”

Michela Anderson, whose son attends the school, agreed: “It’s not the crime, it’s the prejudice behind it that’s shaken us.”

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francisco.varaorta@latimes.com