CNN —
The father of a Minnesota transgender high school student whosays shewas beaten in school said Thursday he wants the studentswhobeat or harassedhis daughterto face criminal charges.
Mark Walztoni tells CNN his 17-year-old daughter Cobalt Sovereign, a junior at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, was in the school bathroom lastThursdaywhena student started calling hertransphobic slurs. While she was leaving the bathroom, Walztoni says his daughtersaidshe was surrounded bythat student and two others, who began following Sovereign down the hall, and when she turned around to ask them to stop, she waspunched in the mouth.
During the attack, according to Walztoni, Sovereign’s jaw was broken in two places. She had a compound fracture and lost teeth, leading to reconstructive surgery. Walztoni says the studentsresponsibleshould face criminal charges.
“There has to be repercussions for their actions. And if they are not charged for some reason, which is our fear, then that is just going to further escalate their behavior because when you get away with stuff, you continue to do stuff,” he said. “There needs to be some kind of punishment and there needs to be some serious discussion as to whether those kids should be able to come back to the same school.”
He also sayshewas notified about the incident from a social worker at the school and was told by school officials to notify the police, adding he was displeased the incident “wasn’t treated as an emergency.”
Walztoni also tells CNN he is unsure if his daughter will be safe going back to school and wants to see changes.
“It’s unacceptable. The whole transphobia and hom*ophobia thing is, in my opinion, so 20th century, or it should be a thing of the past. And it’s clear that the climate is getting worse in this regard,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “We have a tremendous amount of community support here and Cobalt feeling very loved but it’s you know it’s the kids that are there today aren’t safe.”
Cobalt Sovereign, a Minnesota transgender high school student who says she was beaten in school, and her father Mark Walztoni speak with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Sovereign tells CNN she has never met or seen the students who attacked and harassed her prior to the incident. She said she has faced harassment in the past but “nothing even close to this extent”. Sovereign also said using the restroom as someone who identifies as non-binary has always been an issue for her.
“I try to use any general neutral or family restroom options if they’re available but when I’m not given that option I … use the men’s restroom because it’s what makes everybody around me the least amount of uncomfortable and making other people uncomfortable is something that I tried not to do. It’s from one of my worst fears,” Sovereign told Collins.
The Minnetonka Police Department said in a statement to CNNit is investigating anattackthat day at Hopkins High School as “a possible hatecrime,” but said “details remain limited as the case was reported to police after school had ended for the day.”Hopkins High Schoolsaid it is investigating “an act of violence”that “involved a student who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community.”
“We will address any issues that compromise the safety and inclusivity of our school environment,” the school told CNN in a statement. “We support and stand by any group that is marginalized, including our LGBTQ+ scholars and staff.”
Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom tells CNN Sovereign’s mother reported the incident to the police departmentthe day it happenedand he was not made aware of it until the following Monday.
Boerboom says he would have preferred the school notify the police as soon as the incident occurred.
“We would arrive at the school, we would meet with the victim, Cobalt, we would talk to the suspects, identify the suspects, get their side of the story, talk to the victim. And then we are required to notify parents at that time,” he said. “By having us contacted at the onset, we can assess it as first responders and we have access to EMS or medical services.”
Boerboom also says a video of the assault exists, and he has seen it. He says his department filed a subpoena for the video from the school, in line with policy. In the video, he says, one boy is seen assaulting Sovereign in the hallway. There were two other boys nearby, Boerboom says, who were not involved in the physical assault.
Theattack comes amid a rise inanti-LGBTQlegislationand as advocates say LGBTQ students have faced an uptick in threats and violence. It also comes nearly four months after thedeath of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary10th grader in Oklahoma who toldpolice about being beaten to the point of blacking out during a confrontation in the school bathroom.
Colbalt Sovereign is a junior at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka.
Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of GLSEN, a non-profitgroup working to end intolerance and hom*ophobia inK-12schools, said theattack is “a heartbreaking reminder of the violence and discrimination that trans youth face daily.”
“GLSENstands in solidarity with Cobalt and their family, and we call on their school officials to take immediate, concrete steps to ensure the safety and dignity of all students,” Willingham-Jaggers told CNN in a statement. “Hate has no place in our schools, and it’s our collective responsibility to create systems where every student can thrive without fear.”
Minnesota state Rep. Leigh Finke, a Democrat and the firstouttransgender lawmaker in the state’s legislature, condemned the school and policefor theirresponsesto the incident. Finke said violenceagainst transgender youth like Benedict and Sovereign will “continue unabated until accountability and responsibility is accepted.”
“The response of Hopkins High School and the Minnetonka Police so far sends the same transphobic message to(…)the world: do as you will and if no one decides to take it public, you’ll get away with it. Is that the message that we want to send?” Finke said in a statement.
“We want to see Hopkins High School and Minnetonka Police, and every school and police department in the future to do what is right and take immediate action, not because people are looking, but because transgender folks everywhere are entitled to live a life free of fear, and violence,” Finke added.
CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.
