JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has confirmed that two arrests have been made in regard to an incident involving racist Snapchat messages at Bishop J. Snyder High School.
JSO confirmed both arrests include felony charges.
Bishop John Snyder High School principal said Monday that his administration is investigating the messages, with assistance from police.
Former professional baseball player Corey Wimberly posted screenshots to Instagram, of what appears to be a group message between the school's baseball players.
He said his nephew, who's on the team, has been the target of racism.
The messages say things like "When's white history month" and "You can't use any of the words in the English dictionary. Sorry. White people made them."
The principal of the private Roman Catholic college preparatory school Dcn. David Yazdiya said his office is working to resolve the matter.
"We are aware of the picture and the related posts," Yazdiya said. "I am working with JSO now to investigate the matter fully. While the investigation is ongoing I can’t comment further at this time."
“I empathize with the parents," said Wimberly in a statement. "Kids do crazy things, but for every action, there is a reaction. For me, I have to protect my family. So we definitely can feel a little safer tonight because threats are not taken lightly. I want everybody to know, we have to get along in this world, neither one of our races are going anywhere, so we have to figure it out, a way to get along.”
The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville Inc. and activist Ben Frazier issued the following statement Tuesday regarding the arrests.
We are pleased that JSO conducted a swift and thorough investigation of this disgusting incident. The positive collaboration between JSO and the public to resolve this community conflict should serve as a good model for use in other problem areas of policing. Hostile social media posts like this should never be accepted or tolerated.”