Charges Filed Against 12-Year-Old White Boy Accused Of Beating 11-Year-Old Black Girl With A Metal Pipe

The family of Neaveh Thomas is speaking out about an incident at an apartment complex in Shawnee, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City that left the 11-year-old with stitches and a concussion. Police have charged a 12-year-old white boy with aggravated assault for allegedly hitting Neaveh multiple times in the face with a metal pipe.

“You feel your child’s pain so just imagine how it felt that my 11-year-old daughter had been hit over the head with a steel pole and left unconscious,” said Brandi Stewart. “That was bad enough but when I heard the boy who did it to my daughter was yelling racist language at her and her friends, that was pain piled on top of pain. And, the anger I felt, no one wants to feel the kind of anger that I did or that I do.”

The alleged attack happened last weekend. Witnesses say the children were playing outside when the suspect began hurling racist slurs. Neaveh reportedly defended herself by replying, “My black is beautiful.”

Reading from a statement at a news conference, Neaveh stated, “He left and came back with a pole and hit me in the head.” 
Her mother lamented the state of the country and its growing racial divisions.
“As a mom, my biggest worry had been that Neaveh might be kidnapped when she went and played outside. I don’t think I ever would have imagined that I would ever have to worry about her being a victim of a racially motivated attack.”

Family members say police were slow to arrest the suspect, taking two hours to detain him. Because he is a minor, his name is being withheld, but he is under house arrest.

“Neaveh’s story is just another chapter in the horror story of living Black in America,” says Rev. Terry Bradshaw, pastor of Empowerment Temple where the news conference was held. “Had a little Black boy or man been walking around the apartment complex with a metal pole in his hands, he would have been treated like a threat and possibly arrested and not given the benefit of the doubt.”

Surrounded by family, an attorney, and several pastors, members of the media wearing masks and social distancing listened to the harrowing details. Neaveh sat quietly after she read her statement. Her grandparents spoke along with her mother and a pastor.

Bradshaw continued, “We are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We demand justice for Neaveh. We demand her attacker be held accountable and be convicted to the fullest extent. We demand that his father be held accountable. I do not believe a child just comes out of the womb being racist. Racism and bigotry is a learned behavior.”