Students spotted writing racist graffiti at Sacramento-area high school, deputies say
Authorities identified two Black Rosemont High School students who were spotted on security camera video writing graffiti with a racial slur on a campus wall, sheriff’s officials said.
Sacramento City Unified School District on March 22 reported racist graffiti was found at Rosemont High in a second-floor hallway at the campus. The graffiti was quickly removed, district officials said.
The racist graffiti had been written on the wall with a pencil, and two Rosemont High students were captured on campus security video writing the racial obscenity, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday afternoon in a news release.
The Sheriff’s Office released images from the security camera video that shows the graffiti that includes the slur and what appears to be the suspected students in the hallway.
The graffiti was referred to sheriff’s detectives who worked closely with school district administrators. Sheriff’s officials said the school administrators obtained the security camera video that showed two Black female students writing the graffiti on the wall.
After reviewing video, school officials and detectives learned the identities of both students. Sheriff’s officials said investigators would consult with the juvenile division of the District Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges were warranted.
The Rosemont High graffiti found last week is one in a series of incident over the past few months involving racist graffiti found at Sacramento City Unified campuses.
In February, investigators identified a Black student was responsible for racist graffiti found over a water fountain at C.K. McClatchy High School with a message that alluded to segregation. A community liaison with the school district said the student confessed to writing “colored” on one side of the dual water fountain and “white” on the other side.
Earlier this month, the school district announced that two students from a nearby high school are believed to be responsible for painting graffiti with racial expletives, a swastika and other hate-filled messages at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.
An investigation continues into racist graffiti at West Campus High School, where racially derogatory vandalism was directed at Assistant Principal Elysse Versher, Principal John McMeekin has said. Versher told The Sacramento Bee she found a racial slur written five times on a wall near her assigned parking spot on campus on Nov. 6.
In mid-December, the Sacramento Police Department announced that investigators reviewed “several hours” of security camera video and spotted three people who detectives are seeking to “identify and interview” regarding the West Campus High incident.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 5:52 PM.
