ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Within the last week, the Missouri NAACP and St. Louis County NAACP challenged Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey for his investigation into Hazelwood School District following a fight near Hazelwood East High School on March 8.
Kaylee Gain, 16, was seriously injured in an after-school fight in north St. Louis County. The fight was captured on video and went viral online.
In his letter, Bailey said he was looking into the district's diversity equity and inclusion programs after the teen's beating.
RELATED: No, DEI didn't 'contribute' to a violent assault that critically injured a Hazelwood East student
“I am launching an investigation into Hazelwood School District after a student was senselessly assaulted by another student in broad daylight,” said Attorney General Bailey. “The entire community deserves answers on how Hazelwood’s radical DEI programs resulted in such despicable safety failures that has resulted in a student fighting for her life. There must be accountability.”
To read the full letter, click here.
Now, Bailey is going back and forth with the Hazelwood School District on these claims.
The letter addresses it to Hazelwood School District's attorney Cindy Reeds Ormsby.
Ormsby sent a response to Bailey's letter on Wednesday afternoon. The letter reads:
"Dear Mr. Bailey: I’d like to clarify that my letter did not indicate that your 'most egregious error' was the incorrect date (and time) of the incident. Your most egregious errors are your unsupported allegations that race was a factor in the incident and that school resource officers would have been on the scene of an incident that occurred after school hours and one-half mile from school property. St. Louis County Police and the St. Louis County prosecutor have debunked both of those allegations. As such, you have no reasonable cause to believe a violation of the MHRA has occurred and your investigation of the Hazelwood School District is unwarranted and without merit. The district acknowledges receipt of your Sunshine Law request. Due to the nature and breadth of your request, we will make every attempt to provide the requested records by April 15, 2024. Should that date change, I will provide your office with notification."
Missouri NAACP also stepped in to stand firm in opposition to the claim on DEI initiatives, saying it's misplaced and detracts from the real issues at hand - equal application under the law.
“Attorney General Bailey’s blind eye to racism when the victim is Black is telling, but the use of the investigative power in his office to lift the harm suffered by a Caucasian student while ignoring the Black victims is nothing short of Jim Crow,” said NAACP President Nimrod Chapel, Jr. “It is outrageous that our tax dollars are funding his racist political talking points."
St. Louis County NAACP President John Bowman sat down with 5 On Your Side on Thursday to discuss the chapter's letter to Bailey.
"I'd like him to tone down the political rhetoric," Bowman said. "There is nothing that ties DEI to a fight. It's just the worst segue to political nonsense that he could've come up with. In his case, he thinks he's talking to an extremist group of people who accept that type of division. I think he is very biased in his decision making."
He believes the attorney general's rhetoric can be harmful rather than helpful.
Bowman said, "We have some cases of discrimination where African Americans have been treated unfairly, I would like the AG to have as much urgency and attention to those as he has done with certain cases."
Bowman points to this year's upcoming election for possible motives.
"He finds it necessary to use that office for political reasons rather than representing all citizens in this state. In their own self-serving political case, proven from past AG’s, it’s a way to get elevated to the Senate, I guess," Bowman shared.
The two previous Missouri attorneys general, which include Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, are now U.S. Senators.
Despite the differences, Bowman said their door is open.
"We are here to give him some advice on how our community should be and demand to be treated," Bowman added.
Bowman also said he wants to see changes.
"They’re (kids) watching us, so our conduct and behavior determines what their conduct and behavior looks like. We made it clear that we here for both the family and the school district and we support them, making sure that these children are treated fairly and not politicized," Bowman added.
In response to the letters, Bailey shared this statement:
“We know that in 2021, the school district mandated that school resource officers take the DEI indoctrination program. The police agencies refused, so Hazelwood booted most of the police officers off campus. This school district now has a documented history of advancing radical, racially divisive programming ahead of the safety of students. The whole point of school resource officers is to be there to provide security at the school facility, but also to be an early warning system to be able to intervene and mitigate teen conflicts so it doesn’t rise to the level of a street brawl that results in a first-degree assault. DEI programs that advance certain races over others are illegal and unconstitutional, and we will use the full authority of the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to put an end to it if that’s what the results of the investigation necessitate.”
Earlier in the week, Bailey sent a letter to the school district outlining some of the same concerns regarding school resource officers. The letter contained several false claims that were debunked by 5 On Your Side and other media outlets.
New developments
5 On Your Side learned this week, eight teenagers were referred to St. Louis County Family Court for consideration of assault charges as a result of the altercation on March 8th near the intersection of Norgate Drive and Claudine Drive. Right now, they are not in custody.
A police spokesperson said this is because these teens were also fighting.
This does not include the 15-year-old girl who was previously charged with assault.
There will be a status hearing in juvenile court on Monday for the 15-year-old girl who has been charged with assault.
Also this week, a Hazelwood District spokesperson confirmed the day before the attack that injured Gain, there was another fight involving students from the school. The spokesperson says at least one student was suspended as a result of that fight.
While the district wouldn't name the suspended student, an attorney for the suspect tells 5 On Your Side it was Gain. He says that the initial fight was the precursor to the fight the next day that left Gain critically injured.
Gain was discharged from the intensive care unit Saturday and was breathing on her own.