The Minnesota Department of Education has opened an investigation into the suicide of a 15-year-old Muslim student.
The family of Jacob LeTourneau-Elsharkawy believes their son was bullied.
The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports The Council on American-Islamic Relations had called for the investigation and is applauding the decision to proceed with it.
The school district has denied the claims that Jacob was bullied.
The boy’s mother told WCCO that trouble began when her son began wearing a hijab and talked about his family’s conversion to Islam.
“He wasn’t afraid to show who he was and what he believed, even if it meant he would get bullied and judged,” she said to the station.
“He was physically forced into a locker, which resulted in him getting a concussion,” said Jaylani Hussein of CAIR Minnesota to WCCO. “In another incident, he was pushed into a metal doorway, which resulted again in a concussion and a broken collarbone.”
Jacob attended Chicago Lakes High School.
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