Racist Image Of Doctored Rio Americano High School Website Sparks FBI, Sacramento Sheriff Investigation

The FBI and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department are investigating a fake image of a racist post on the Rio American High School website, which was sent via phone to some students last week.

A screenshot of the altered Rio Americano web page was shared last Wednesday and included a post that with the headline “District-Wide High School No Black People Policy.” It also claimed members of the Klu Klux Klan would be patrolling the school.

Levias Taylor's son is a student at Rio Americano. He brought the fake post to her attention after it was forwarded to him by a friend.

"Completely infuriating, upsetting, hurtful,” she said of the post. “A lot of emotions just kind of ran through my mind at that particular point being that I have two black students that attend the school.”

Taylor says her son has been called the N-word at the school in the past and that racism at the school needs to be addressed.

“They need to hear their students. They need to hear their stories,” she said. “Everybody is not comfortable talking about these issues. But they’re real. It’s not something we can keep sweeping under the rug.”

On Monday, students were greeted by school staff, including the principal, and were invited to voice concerns at a teacher staff meeting in the afternoon.

The San Juan School Unified School District says the image is not real, and that all students should feel safe at school.

“If they do ever see anything concerning, or hear anything concerning, or if they themselves feel unwelcome or unsafe, [they can] reach out to a teacher or staff member,” said Raj Rai, communication coordinator with the district.  

As to the question of who created the message, Rai says the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has been on campus and the FBI's cyber unit has been asked to assist in an investigation.