Middle schoolers formed giant human swastika in ‘reprehensible’ stunt on California campus

A group of middle school students formed a giant human swastika by lying together on a field at their Southern California campus, police confirmed to the Daily News Thursday.

The unidentified students later shared an image of the disturbing stunt in a group chat chain that also included a photo of a different student brandishing a sword, a police source told The News.

The student with the sword claimed he would bring the weapon to their school — Matilija Junior High in Ojai — if he got a certain number of “likes,” the source said.

A parent of one of the students discovered the posts last month, took screen shots and reported them to school administrators, the source said.

The school’s principal then alerted local law enforcement, and investigators conducted interviews that ultimately determined no crimes were committed, though some school policies were likely violated, the source said.

“The student who posted the picture with the sword was not the one generating the anti-Semitic content,” Sgt. Shane Matthews of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office told The News.

“There were two separate investigations. One was the alleged hate speech and the other was the school threat issue,” he said.

“Deputies spoke with all the students, parents and faculty. A few of the students didn’t even know what a swastika was. They had no idea,” he said.

He said the sword was determined to be “decorative.”

“The parents were all very receptive,” Matthews said. “I think it was a wake-up call for some of them to be more involved and monitor their kids’ social media more closely.”

The troubling behavior came to light Thursday after a parent at the school shared a Dec. 14 letter from administrators with the Los Angeles Times.

The letter said a dozen students were involved in the group chat and nine allegedly arranged themselves on the school field in the shape of the hate symbol, the newspaper reported.

“It brings us great pain to share with you, reprehensible student actions that have taken place over the course of the last few weeks,” the letter from Matilija’s principal and vice principal said, according to The Times.

One parent who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity because she feared retaliation said she was disappointed the school didn’t take more stringent, immediate action.

“It’s crazy that nine kids could lay on a playground with 400 kids and teachers everywhere and no one see it,” the parent said.

She claimed the surrounding community — which is 82% white, 12% Latino and less than 1% black — has a problem with “subtle racism,” and that her children, who are black, have been subjected to racial slurs.

“I just can’t believe there’s no parent meeting, nothing,” she told The Times.

“My hope is that there’s exposure, because I think that the school needs to know how seriously they should be taking this. This is way more serious than sending out a small letter,” she said.

Attempts to reach Ojai Unified School District Supt. Andy Cantwell were not immediately successful Thursday.

He told The Times that administrators were still considering different ways to “bring more sensitivity and understanding” to the school.

He said the actions didn’t “represent the character of these students.”

“They made very poor choices, not understanding the gravity of these symbols,” he said.

Matilija was still closed for the winter break on Thursday, with students due to return to classes next week.