A video posted Friday afternoon to Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook purportedly showing a Muslim student at Washburn High School using her fists to exact revenge on a boy who tugged her hijab is fake, a Minneapolis schools spokesman said Saturday.
The video, titled "Welcome to Washburn," has gone viral since it was posted to Facebook, with more than 6.5 million views, more than 161,000 shares and more than 29,000 comments — many supporting the girl, who appears to be defending herself.
But Dirk Tedmon, a spokesman for the school district, said Saturday that school officials who talked to families of the students after viewing the video learned that it was a "play fight" and intended as a joke. School safety and security staff confirmed the alleged incident never happened. By the time it was discovered to be a hoax, the video had gone viral, Tedmon said.
When asked if the students involved face discipline, Tedmon said such information is not public.
"We want to make sure our families know the school community works continually to keep our buildings safe," he said, adding that a learning environment that is "culturally sensitive to all our students is a priority."
James Walsh • 651-925-5041
