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Swastikas, Kill Message Found at Alabama High School

Arturo Arellano was attending his young daughter's play at Rogers High School on Tuesday. The play was being held in the gymnasium of Rogers High School.

Arellano told WAAY 31, his local news affiliate, he went to the bathroom and found swastikas, KKK, a possible threat and other things written on the bathroom wall. Arellano said he did not report the incident to school staff, but he did post the pictures to Facebook and said the incident was concerning.

Arellano gave WAAY 31 photos of the writing on the bathroom stall. WAAY 31 counted three swastikas. In one of the photos, it says "kill," has a large swastika under it and then the word "hell." In another photo, it identified a person as being Jewish. We've blurred the name in that photo to protect that person's identity. There was also "KKK" etched into the bathroom stall.

On Wednesday, WAAY 31 reached out to Rogers High School Principal Jamie Burks. WAAY 31 repeatedly asked what was being done about the situation, if the hate symbols were painted over and if staff members were trying to find the person responsible. All Burks would say is, "It's been handled."

WAAY 31 asked Burks if the person identified by first and last name as being Jewish was a student and he said he did not know. WAAY 31 also reached out to the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office to see if the school contacted them about the writing on the bathroom stall. Lauderdale County officials told us the school has not contacted them about the incident.

WAAY 31 looked up Lauderdale County Schools' student and parent handbook. It says, "Section 1: Bullying, Intimidation, Violence, and Threats of Violence Prohibited. No student shall engage in nor should any be subjected to bullying, violence, threats of violence or intimidation by any other student that is based on any of the specific characteristics set forth in this policy. Students who violate this policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary sanctions as specified in the Student Code of Conduct, subject to the investigating school administrator’s authority and decision."

Burk would not elaborate on how the situation is being handled. WAAY 31 does not know if the hate symbols and possible threats are being investigated or if they have been removed. WAAY 31 also reached out to Lauderdale County Superintendent Jon Hatton. He has not returned our calls and his voicemail box was full.