Framingham public schools Superintendent Robert Tremblay speaks to reporters about the threatening notes. (Framingham Public Schools)
FRAMINGHAM (AP/WBZ-AM) — Police in Framingham are investigating after a Muslim elementary school student reported receiving threatening notes.
Framingham public schools Superintendent Robert Tremblay says the first note was found on Friday and the second on Monday. Both were placed in the student's storage bin at the Hemenway Elementary School.
One note said "You are a terrorist, and the other read "I will kill you."
Tremblay says the messages are "unacceptable and unwelcome in our community." In a letter posted on the Framingham Public Schools website, Tremblay wrote:
"While we are extremely disappointed in this turn of events, we remain committed to equity and justice. As we continue our investigations we will continue to use this as a teachable moment to ensure all students learn how to create and sustain a welcoming community for all. It is not lost on me the harm these letters have caused the family and the greater Muslim community. I want to reassure you that the Framingham Public Schools stands with you. We will not accept hate. We will stand united against it."
The school's principal visited each classroom urging the culprit to come forward with an apology and sent an email to parents condemning the incident.
The student's uncle, Jamaal Sidiqi, told WBZ-TV that the victim is a 10-year-old fifth-grader.
"She was visibly upset, she was crying," Sidiqi said. "That's not what Islam teaches, and that's not what Muslims are."
Parents of other children are outraged as well.
"It's absolutely devastating, and I don't want this to happen in my child's school at all," a parent of a student there told WBZ-TV.
At Tuesday's School Committee meeting, board Chairman Adam Freudberg called the incident a "discriminatory hate crime."
The girl's parents will be meeting with school officials and police to discuss the incidents and come up with a safety plan going forward.
(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
WBZ NewsRadio's Ben Parker (@radiobenparker) reports