2 teens arrested: Racial threats involve Jacksonville school and baseball team

Two 17-year-old student-athletes at Bishop John Snyder High School have been charged with written threats to kill or do bodily injury involving a Black member of the baseball team.

Principal David Yazdiya, deacon at the private Roman Catholic college preparatory school, had earlier confirmed for First Coast News that his administration is investigating racist Snapchat messages with assistance from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

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 arrest reports list the two suspects as players, both white and from Clay County. The Times-Union is not naming them due to their age. The victim told police he has had recurring issues with them as well as being harassed. Much of the reports, though, is redacted.

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'We want to see the right thing to be done'

Wimberly sent First Coast News a statement on the situation Monday night:

“Keep us in your prayers," Wimberly said. "We want to see the right thing to be done. As a world and a country, we have to have integrity. I pray everyone remains safe and Bishop Snyder does the right thing.”

Yazdiya said his office was 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."

On Tuesday morning, Wimberly shared with First Coast News that his Monday meeting with the school went well.

"The school is taking immediate action and we are happy for that," he said. "We would also like to see some updates to the school policies on racism and inappropriate school behaviors. The school doesn't have any advocate for the minority students. It would be good to see some change in that as well."

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'We should all be disgusted and angered'

The Northside Coalition of Jacksonville Inc. issued the following statement Tuesday morning regarding the Snapchat messages.

"We should all be disgusted and angered at the racist and threatening posts on social media directed at this Black student at and his family. There should be a swift and thorough investigation by JSO, school officials, and the Diocese of St. Augustine. Strict disciplinary action should be taken to punish the students responsible. Action should be taken to prevent the occurrence of discriminatory threats. Hostile statements and social media posts like this should never be accepted or tolerated.”

In another Instagram post Monday night, Wimberly said: "It's crazy how my post was deleted from Instagram. All the hate I've received along with my nephew for putting out the truth is mind blowing. I'm hurt, he's hurt and our entire family is hurt. The pain I saw on my nephew's face when he told me what was going on is engraved in my mind. It hits a little different when this happens to your own family. I refuse to let this break us. We will remain strong. We are not into tarnishing anyone's name nor brand I don't get down like that. I want everyone to win. We are always on positive family vibes. We were raised to do the right thing even when no one is looking! #integrity."

The Florida Times-Union contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Racial Snapchat posts involve private Jacksonville high school team