Posted on 08/01/2025 8:33:30 AM PDT by Red Badger
Pickens County School District says disciplinary action is being weighed after video surfaces from school-sponsored football retreat.
=============================================================
Authorities in the Upstate region of South Carolina are investigating an alleged assault involving high school football players during a school-sponsored retreat at Presbyterian College earlier this month, according to an incident report provided to FITSNews.
The alleged attack occurred around 10:30 p.m. EDT on July 7, 2025 and involved students from D.W. Daniel High School in Pickens County, who the district says are all minors.
According to the campus police report — shared with FITSNews by community activist @Bossy_Leah — a student told officers he had exited the shower in his dorm room when three teammates confronted him, accusing him of using the N-word in a group chat.
One suspect was reportedly hiding in a closet, another sitting nearby. The student told authorities he was warned that if he tried to escape or didn’t “fess up to the matter, it would only get worse.”
Yeah, that’s not good enough. Sorry, @PickensSchools .
You tried to hide what happened and now you can’t run from it. We know those three black football players attacked this boy because he’s white. They admitted it to police.
They are a danger to others on campus and in… https://t.co/syhwJgRwue pic.twitter.com/igcxwHQTVm— I Am Leah (@Bossy_Leah) July 28, 2025
The student said the suspects briefly stepped out to let him get dressed. During that time, he tucked his phone under a dresser to record what transpired next. When they returned, he said they began hitting him in the face, stomach, neck and back, “repeatedly with closed fists,” according to the report.
Laurens County EMS was dispatched to the dorm and evaluated the student.
All four students were later interviewed by campus police. Investigators noted that “derogatory pictures” had been shared in the group chat but found “no evidence of the N-word being used by the victim.”
The student’s account — along with a statement from his mother — was first published by Malarkey News, a freelance photojournalism outlet based in the Upstate. On Sunday, Malarkey released a 2-minute, 40-second video clip showing one angle of the incident.
FITSNews has since reviewed three separate clips of the alleged assault, which show at least nine students inside the dorm room at the time.
Several students are seen leaving the room moments beforehand. One tells others, “you can dip.” Another daps up one of the suspects.
Leaning against a bed, the victim stands quietly as two people record from behind and the suspects position themselves in front and to his side. He can be heard asking not to be hit in the face or have anything broken.
One suspect replies, “nah, I’m going to fuck you up.” Another agrees: “Like, straight up.” Meanwhile, the person recording one of the videos laughs.
Amid the buildup, a voice is heard saying, “stick his ass.” One suspect tells the student to put his arms down just before the attack begins. Two of the three then start striking him — one landing approximately 20 punches, the other at least six.
“I gotta get in here,” says what appears to be the third suspect. “Make him feel them shits.”
By the time the victim is on his knees, the third suspect stands over him, pauses, and delivers at least four strikes to his head and back.
“Don’t even get up,” someone says. “Yuh. Don’t even get up.”
The attack lasted approximately nineteen seconds. All three suspects then exited the room.
In his statement to Malarkey News, the student said he suffered a concussion and was advised by doctors not to return to contact sports.
“My senior season was taken from me — not by injury on the field, but by a brutal, targeted assault based on a lie,” he wrote.
The student also said head coach Chris Stone and seven other coaches were inside the building at the time.
“Multiple teammates were coming in and out while I was trapped in my room,” he wrote, “but nobody thought to get a coach.”
In the days following the assault, the student said school officials — including Coach Stone, Principal Adam Russell, and Athletic Director Benjamin Touchberry — met with his family.
“They looked us in the eyes and said what happened to me was not acceptable,” he wrote to Malarkey News. “But those words turned out to be empty.”
In his statement, the student referred to his alleged assailants as “key players” and questioned why they appeared to face no consequences.
In a statement issued late Sunday, the Pickens County School District confirmed the retreat was a school-sponsored event and said an internal investigation is underway. The district also said it is reviewing the football program and cooperating with law enforcement.
“While we are committed to helping our students learn and grow from their mistakes, we are also ensuring that appropriate consequences are administered in line with district policy and the law,” the statement read. “We are addressing this matter with the seriousness it deserves.”
According to the campus police report, the case was referred to the Eighth Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office for Family Court intake earlier this month.
As of this publication, no charges have been announced.
*** UPDATE | The latest developments in this story…
https://www.fitsnews.com/2025/07/29/attorneys-release-new-video-statement-after-upstate-student-savagely-beaten-at-football-camp/
Attorneys Release New Video Of Upstate Student Being ‘Savagely Beaten’ At Football Camp
The alleged assault, captured from multiple angles, occurred during a Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ football retreat which included D.W. Daniel High School players.
by Andrew FancherJuly 29, 2025
Two law firms in the Upstate region of South Carolina are representing the family of a minor whose alleged assault was caught on video and widely circulated over the weekend.
As FITSNews previously reported, multiple football players from D.W. Daniel High School — a public school in Pickens County — were recorded from several angles as they attacked a teammate during an off-campus football retreat held in Laurens County.
The incident took place on July 7, 2025 at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. – where student-athletes were attending a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) summer camp. Presbyterian College, which owns the property, stated it was not affiliated with the event beyond renting its facilities.
In a joint statement released Monday afternoon, the Moorhead Lefevre law firm and the Kyle J. White law firm — both based in Anderson, S.C. — confirmed they were representing the victim’s family, referring to the now-viral incident as a “savage” beating.
“The camp was school-sanctioned, and the individuals who perpetrated the attack were D.W. Daniel High School football players,” the attorneys said in a statement to FITSNews. “Our clients have authorized us to release this information and the disturbing video footage of the incident…”
In releasing the graphic footage, the attorneys said their hope is that anyone with “information or evidence” helpful to the investigation will come forward and contact their offices.
“Helpful information would include not only evidence pertinent to the camp or the incident on July 7, 2025,” the attorney’s added, “but also information and evidence related to other similar incidents involving D.W. Daniel High School or Presbyterian College.”
This story was originally broken by Malarkey News, an Upstate-based photojournalist who published firsthand testimony from the victim and his mother on Friday — followed by a two-minute, four-second recording of the beating on Sunday.
The initial footage — a separate angle from what attorneys released on Monday — depicted a white student being struck dozens of times in the face, stomach, neck, and back by three black teammates, while fellow football players either laughed, filmed or sat idly and watched the attack.
As the recordings collectively revealed, at least two of the suspects delivered a total of 26 blows to the teen before he fell to his knees, prompting a third individual to “get in” and deliver at least four additional strikes across his head and back.
“Make him feel them shits,” someone exclaimed during the alleged assault.
In the victim’s statement to Malarkey News, the student said eight coaches — including D.W. Daniel High School head football coach Chris Stone (who disabled his X account after footage of the beating went viral) — were inside the building at the time.
“Multiple teammates were coming in and out while I was trapped in my room,” the minor wrote to Malarkey News, “but nobody thought to get a coach.”
A subsequent police report from Presbyterian College campus police — obtained and provided by community activist Leah Russell — confirmed that the alleged assault was reportedly motivated by claims the victim had used the “N-word” in a group chat.
Despite at least one suspect admitting the fight broke out because of language he accused the victim of using, officers later determined there was “no evidence of the N-word being used by the victim,” but instead alleged that he had posted “derogatory pictures” in the chat.
The report did not specify the content of those images.
“After an initial investigation of the incident,” Presbyterian College announced in a statement Monday, “Campus Police followed protocol and referred the matter to the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and the Eighth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.”
The School District of Pickens County released a similar statement the evening prior, calling the incident “off campus” while saying it is cooperating with law enforcement through the legal process and has launched a broader review of the D.W. Daniel football program.
In an early morning response to FITSNews on Tuesday, a district spokesperson — who has remained responsive throughout this news cycle — emphasized that federal student privacy laws prohibit disclosing any information related to individual student discipline or enrollment status.
However, the spokesperson added:
“What I can affirm is that disciplinary actions — both academic and athletic — have been and are being administered in accordance with district policy, the SDPC Athletic Code of Conduct, and the South Carolina High School League guidelines.”
Later that same morning, S.C. Eighth Circuit solicitor David Stumbo confirmed to FITSNews that his office is aware of the incident that occurred during the FCA team camp earlier this month.
“We are monitoring the situation daily and working closely with the Department of Juvenile Justice and the law enforcement agencies that have jurisdiction,” Stumbo said, adding that state law prevents him from releasing specific details involving juveniles.
“We will provide updates on the case when appropriate and as state law allows,” he concluded.
As of this publication, no charges have been announced.
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
So what if he “used the N-word”?
These thugs need to rounded up and put on a chain gang.
Just my opinion.
I’m so effing tired of feral black “youths”.
L
Charge every one of the people involved actively in the beating.
Expel every student in that room who sat by and watched.
Fire the football coach.
Whether or not it was said, I continue to be stunned that calling someone a niq is justification for a beat down. For that matter, calling a group of people feral animals elicits the response of feral animals - HOW DARE YOU CALL ME FERAL!
They always claim the N word. Or a moose. Or some fake graffiti. They lie and lie and lie.
How long are people going to put up with this?
Video Captures Alleged Dorm Assault...
I will never get over this statement. ...and equally baffled just how often it is used.
I’ve summed it up to, ‘Trying to sound smart to Dumb people’. I do not believe it’s anything more than that.
I think it's only going to become worse.
They only decide to consider discipline because they have a video?
The 'nucks always claim the moose.
(yes, we know what you meant)
Alleged human beings....
> accusing him of using the N-word <
Well, there it is. It’s the trump card.
And even if you didn’t say it, any blacks on the jury will think you did. That’s how messed up this country is. Thanks, LBJ. Your “Great Society” really made things not so great.
And as an ironic side point, LBJ was quite fond of using the N-word himself.
I never understand the use of the word “alleged” when a beating is caught on camera.
Alleged is a weasel word to avoid civil lawsuits by the press. It is possible that the fight is in self defense, so it would not be illegal under the law. Then the people in the video and/or written story could sue for damages.
What is really pathetic...all those punches without much impact. Nothing but empowered racists in a mob, thinking the ‘n-word’ gives them justification.
Put each of them in a room alone with the guy, see how tough they are then.
From what I heard, they were trying to force the victim to quit or get kicked off the team because they didn’t like him taking their friend’s position.
Apparently, this kind of situation happens often in Pickens and Greenville County. If you’re white and good at football, you might be harassed by people of another race until you leave the team.
“So what if he “used the N-word”?”
He did not. The purpose of the attack was to get him to say he use the N-word to get him kick off the team.
Those private Christian Academies that seem so popular in the South, especially after desegregation, definitely make a lot of sense now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.