That is, criminal charges. The hapless prankster has been suspended and may face more school discipline for daring to put a ham steak in the proximity of Muslim students. Update from Loony Lewiston: “No charges in ham incident,” by Mark LaFlamme in the Sun Journal, with thanks to James:
LEWISTON – A student who tossed ham on a school table occupied by Somali students last month will not be prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
But that decision, announced on Wednesday, will not have any bearing the school’s handling of the incident.
The Lewiston Middle School student who placed the bagged ham has been suspended, according to Lewiston school officials.
Police who investigated found that no crime had been committed, and their part of the probe ended shortly after.
“We referred our findings to the Attorney General’s Office,” police Chief William Welch said Wednesday night. “And we support their decision.”
From the start, there was debate in the community about whether the student’s actions constituted a hate crime. Muslims consider pork unclean and offensive.
A 14-year-old Somali boy told the Sun Journal last month that he was eating at a table with four other Somali students on April 11 when the ham was thrown on the table. The teen said the ham was in a bag and that the student who tossed it laughed along with other students who witnessed the incident.
School officials looked into the matter and doled out their discipline.
Letters were sent to the parents of Middle School students, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence got involved to help address the issue.
Absolute insanity. Middle school children are often vicious and cruel. But to treat this as anything more than that is just the crazy outer edge of political correctness — at least until the next insane story comes down the pike.