Two Massachusetts high school students have been charged with assaulting a transgender student from a rival school following a boys basketball game last week.
Allen R. Hart III, an 18-year-old senior at Foxborough High, was released with no bail with GPS monitoring after pleading not guilty Tuesday, The Sun Chronicle reported. The other suspect, a juvenile boy from Foxborough, was arraigned in Juvenile Court, where the proceedings are closed.
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Both were charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery to intimidate, and a civil rights violation, authorities said.
The charges stem from an altercation in the parking lot of North Attleborough High on Feb. 8, that ended up with the transgender student from North Attleborough being taunted and assaulted, police said.
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Prosecutors said the assault was unprovoked and the 18-year-old Foxborough student grabbed the transgender student by the shirt and slammed the person against a parked car, causing bruises and scratches.
The suspect's attorney, Paul Carlucci, said that there are conflicting witness accounts, that his client was subjected to name calling and that he was punched first by the transgender student.
Foxborough Superintendent Amy Berdos said in a statement that the incident "is contrary to everything that the Foxborough schools teach and believe in."
