Two Black students have allegedly been suspended from a Knoxville, Tennessee high school. A TikTok video has gone viral of one of the teens describing what happened as cops stand outside of the door to a classroom where he’s been locked up.
User @willum4606 recounts standing up for the other student, who is trans, when they were being bullied in the hallway by other students who were deadnaming them. But instead of punishing the bullies, the teen says the assistant principal called the cops and locked him in a classroom.
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“I’m being suspended right now at Fulton High School in Knoxville, Tennessee because I stuck up for a trans woman,” Willum says at the beginning of the video. “I stuck up for a trans woman, and she has the freaking police outside.”
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“And the bullies are not facing any repercussions, but we are,” Willum said. “We are. We’re facing repercussions right now all because I stood up for what I believe in, and you know what I’m not ashamed.”
Willum shares that he was deemed belligerent for asking “Why am I getting suspended?”, “Why is this happening?”, and “Why are we facing repercussions?” He said the administrator called him “threatening” and “combative.”
He says that his use of profanity when standing up for the trans teen was cited as a reason why he was being suspended.
“So y’all just wanna focus on what people said instead of dealing with the problem at hand when people don’t feel safe in school and they literally threaten her life?” Willum asked.
“This is what it feels like to be Black and be part of the LGBTQ+ community in Knoxville, Tennessee at a Knox County school. This raggedy ass school. I can’t fucking stand this school.”
