A distressing viral video of a locker room brawl at an Arkansas high school has sparked an outrage after it was revealed that a black teen who was seen trying to avoid the fight, only to be placed in a chokehold and slammed to the floor, was handed the same punishment as his white attacker.

The incident took place at Forcyde High School last month, and a cellphone recording of the violent confrontation between the two students has been widely shared on social media over the past week, racking up thousands of views and comments expressing anger and dismay.

Reports that both the purported bully and his victim have been suspended for the same amount of time led to protests at the school, which culminated with a ‘sit-in’ last Friday.

A shocking video of a locker room fight between a black teen (center) and a white teen (right) at Fordyce High School in Arkansas has gone viral and sparked protests and calls for accountability

A shocking video of a locker room fight between a black teen (center) and a white teen (right) at Fordyce High School in Arkansas has gone viral and sparked protests and calls for accountability

In the video, the shirtless boy is seen trying to goad the black teen into fighting him, and when his efforts fail, he attacks the other boy

In the video, the shirtless boy is seen trying to goad the black teen into fighting him, and when his efforts fail, he attacks the other boy

In the video, the shirtless boy is seen trying to goad the black teen into fighting him, and when his efforts fail, he attacks the other boy

The black teen is called names, hit with a shoe, and is repeatedly punched in front of a crowd of laughing onlookers who do nothing to stop the abuse

The black teen is called names, hit with a shoe, and is repeatedly punched in front of a crowd of laughing onlookers who do nothing to stop the abuse

The black teen is called names, hit with a shoe, and is repeatedly punched in front of a crowd of laughing onlookers who do nothing to stop the abuse 

Some students claimed that the black boy in the video had reported bullying to school officials in the past, but that little was done to address his concerns, reported Fox 16.

In the video of the locker room scuffle, a shirtless white teen tries to goad a black boy into fighting him, but the black student clearly wants nothing to do with him.

The white student makes a rude hand gesture and repeatedly calls the black student a ‘p***y,’ but he ignores the taunts and proceeds to put on his jeans. All the while, a crowd of teens stand around the locker room and do nothing to stop the escalating conflict; some of them are seen recording the exchange on their phones.

About a minute into the video, the shirtless teen forcefully shoves the black boy, who tells him: ‘I’m not in the mood.’

The white teen shoots back: ‘you’re always not in the mood.’

As the black teen turns around, the white teen throws a shoe at him, which strikes his arm. Still, he does not respond to the aggression.

The white bully puts the black boy in a chokehold, causing him to black out

The white bully puts the black boy in a chokehold, causing him to black out

The white bully puts the black boy in a chokehold, causing him to black out  

He continues to calmly pack up his gym gear when the shirtless bully lunges at him and pushes him.

Only then the black teen throws out his arm in a seemingly defensive motion meant to keep the assailant away from him.

A scuffle ensues, with the shirtless teen chasing his victim and throwing punches at him as the latter desperately tries to defend himself from the blows.

The aggressor in the fight tears the victim’s tank top and then puts him in a chokehold in front of gawping onlookers, who fail to intervene; some are even heard laughing.

After a few seconds, the victim collapses unconscious to the floor. As he lies face down and motionless on the concrete, the bully steps on his back and kicks him in the head.

At no point in the video does a teacher or a coach show up in the locker room.

Fordyce School District Superintendent Judy Hubbell declined to comment on any disciplinary actions stemming from the incident, telling Camden News that it is ‘confidential information.’ 

As the victim lies motionless on the floor, the attacker kicks him in the face, as seen in the screenshot above

As the victim lies motionless on the floor, the attacker kicks him in the face, as seen in the screenshot above

As the victim lies motionless on the floor, the attacker kicks him in the face, as seen in the screenshot above 

‘We don’t want bullying on our campus. We want to have a safe campus, but this just came to light and we are working on this, we are talking through the process,’ she said. 

As the video of the fight has gone viral, many local parents and students have demanded accountability from school officials.  

‘Fordyce High School need to feel some heat over this!!!’ Brandie Broughton, who shared a version of the recording on Facebook last month, wrote in a caption. ‘This young man could’ve lost his life!!!! You can clearly see that this young man( black child) didn’t want to fight!!!! Where are the coaches, teachers, any adult that could’ve STOP THIS!!!! Thank God this young man is ok!!!’

State Senator Joyce Elliot, a Democrat, weighed in on the incident on Twitter, condemning the school for suspending the victim. 

‘Somebody from the Fordyce Schl [sic] District must defend the suspension of the bullied student,’ she tweeted. ‘This is nuts. What the hell was he supposed to do? There is no equivalency here!’

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