Wisconsin school students yelled 'Trump, build a wall' at black and Latina soccer players

By Fusion Staff  |  April 11, 2016 | 6:03pm
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A Wisconsin school has confirmed that its students made “unsportsmanlike and potentially racially motivated comments” during a high school soccer game last week.

According to a statement posted to Facebook Monday by Elkhorn Area High School, three “elementary aged” students who attended Thursday’s varsity girls’ soccer game between Elkhorn and Beloit Memorial yelled “Trump, build a wall” near Beloit fans. Later in the game, Elkhorn said, two high school students stated back and forth “Trump” four to five times.

The town of Elkhorn is predominantly white, while Beloit has a substantial minority population, Census data show.

Beloit Coach Brian Denu told WISC-TV that the “chants affected some of his players to the point they had to leave the game.”

“They came off the field and weren’t able to finish the game because they were too upset and distraught over what happened to them,” Denu said. “One of the girls was cradled in the arms of one of our assistant coaches for a good 15 to 20 minutes.”

The incident was first spotted by the New York Daily News‘ Shaun King. No video of the alleged taunts have yet surfaced.

Elkhorn said it would not reveal what disciplinary measures were going to be taken but that it, “apologize[d] to the Beloit players, fans, and community that were hurt and offended by the comments and words of a few of our students.”

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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