Prior Lake student seen in racist video on social media no longer in district

A girl seen in a racist video tormenting a fellow Prior Lake High School student is no longer enrolled in Savage-Prior Lake Area Schools, the district’s superintendent said Monday.

The video, which is filled with racial slurs and telling someone to kill herself, sparked widespread outrage. Prior Lake freshman Nya Sigin, who told KSTP she was the target of the video, called it "just the most disgusting thing I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life."

After the video surfaced, the school district launched an investigation in conjunction with the Savage Police Department. Savage-Prior Lake Superintendent Teri Staloch said due to data privacy laws, the district could not disclose any action it took as a result of its investigation into the incident.

"The horrific, racist video continues to cause pain and hurt for all in our community, particularly our BIPOC students, staff and families," Staloch said in a statement. "To be clear, our school does not tolerate racism or hate speech. Our hearts go out to the student victim and her family. We have been in contact with them and are seeking ways to support them."

After the video surfaced, Prior Lake students staged a walk-out to protest the video and show their support for Sigin.

Lee Hutton, a Twin Cities trial attorney, said the student’s remarks in the video could lead to criminal charges because Minnesota law outlines penalties for people who intentionally advise, encourage or assist in suicide or attempted suicide.

“One of the caveats is that to sustain a criminal action for encouragement of suicide, you have to direct those statements to a specific person,” said Hutton. “In the Prior Lake incident, they specifically address enough facts that the individual knew and other people knew who they were directing it to so I think this meets the standard of the 609 statute."

Hutton also said the video could amount to a hate crime because the target is a person of a protected class — Sigin is Black — and the communication "touches that individual because of their race."