A man who says his roommates locked a bicycle chain around his neck, put up a Confederate flag and wrote the N word on a whiteboard, was a student in a Santa Cruz high school, according to the Huffington Post.
Prosecutors filed misdemeanor hate charges against Logan Beaschler, 18, of Bakersfield; Joseph Bomgardner, 19, of of Clovis; and Colin Warren, 18, of Woodland in Marin County -- all white freshmen living in an on-campus housing complex.
"I'm still in shock," the attacked student told the San Jose Mercury News, noting that he never experienced such hostility even as one of the only black students at his Santa Cruz high school. "I tried not to dwell on this. But my family is upset and I'm upset."
The case is under investigation by the University.Students rallied on campus Thursday in support of the student, who isn't named because his parents asked to keep it private during the investigation.
The harassment began in August when a picture of Elvis in the four-room suite was covered by a Confederate flag and the N-word was scrawled on a board. His parents complained to the housing office and two roommates were transferred, but the harassment continued.
The roommates told officials they were just joking, according to the Mercury News. But the jokes included trying to lock him in a closet and posting pictures of Adolf Hitler and swastikas.
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