5 SI teens arrested on hate crime charges

STATEN ISLAND

"They would beat me up in the classroom, call me names in the cafeteria, and they would beat me up in the hallways," Kristian said.

16-year-old Kristian says he was the object of unrelenting, and hateful in-school bullying for more than 8 months.

The alleged harassment reportedly started in October of 2009, when Kristian was an 8th grader at Markham Intermediate School, it was physical.

"These four kids punched me everywhere, beat me with their foot," Kristian said.

The abuse also came in verbal form.

"You f-ing terrorists, you f-ing Muslim," Kristian described.

But Kristian kept the abuse to himself, that is, until he saw two of his tormenters in class this year at his new school, Port Richmond High School.

"When I see the two kids from IS 51, I said in my mind, I said I can't go through a year like this again," Kristian said.

Police confirm they've arrested 4 people: three 14-year-old Hispanic students and one 15-year-old African American student.

They're charged with assault and aggravated harassment as a hate crime.

Kristian has some advice for any other student being victimized.

"I would tell the students, go tell the teachers and your parents," Kristian said.

Copyright © 2024 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.