A Bellingham mother is wondering why a group of students who attacked her 16-year-old transgender teenager are not being disciplined.
Alyssa Ruben said her child, who attends Bellingham High School, was jumped on Oct. 22 by eight students from BHS as well as Options Academy around 12:45 p.m. during the second lunch period.
“They were targeted for being transgender and they have very serious injuries,” Ruben told Cascadia Daily News.
The student was attacked off-campus and reported the attack to staff upon returning.
However, Ruben said the school did not immediately contact police about the alleged assault.
“They didn’t call until between 30 to 45 minutes after I even got there, and I had to insist multiple times for them to call the police,” Ruben said.
Bellingham Public Schools said it were aware of the alleged assault and was continuing to cooperate with law enforcement as well as doing its own school-based investigation.
“Our staff were and continue to be very concerned about what happened to a student off-campus, especially given the alleged discriminatory motive behind the assault,” according to the BPS statement.
Martin Atkins, the principal of BHS, said the school couldn’t comment on specific details due to the investigation and privacy concern’s.
“Our mission is to provide a safe and inclusive environment where all students can thrive, and we are actively working with law enforcement to address this situation comprehensively,” he said.
A report to Bellingham Police was made around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, said Megan Peters, the public information officer at BPD. During the attack, it was reported that anti-trans phrases were shouted at them while they were shoved and hit.
Ruben didn’t learn about the attack until her husband texted her. She was at the gym nearby and ran to the school.
Video of the incident also circulated on Instagram. In a 20-second clip shared to CDN by Ruben’s lawyer, the child is shown being pushed around and hit in the head while other children yell.
Ruben said that while her child was evaluated at the school by a sports medicine faculty member, she questions why the school didn’t immediately call 911.
Now the family is going to Seattle Children’s Hospital to have the child evaluated for a traumatic brain injury because of persistent concussion symptoms including brain fog, headaches and dizziness.
“They had to quit the play that they were in, which they are heartbroken about,” Ruben said. “They can’t remember any of their lines anymore.”
Ruben said she grew so frustrated with the response from the school and the police that she made a TikTok about the attack. Since then, the video has gained over 318,000 views and has thousands of comments.
Lawyers through the Rainbow Youth Project USA Foundation, a nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth, reached out to Ruben to offer services.
Detectives within BPD are also continuing to investigate the incident.
Hate crimes targeting LGBTQ+ individuals at college and K-12 campuses increased between 2019 and 2022, according to FBI data. The most common crimes associated with reported hate crimes include simple assault, intimidation and vandalism.
This story was updated Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 11:30 a.m. with comment from Bellingham Public Schools.
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
