The rogue student identified only as "the Cambodian female," singled out as an instigator and assailant who joined predominantly African American youths in a series of assaults on Asians.Up to now, no one -- from district officials to police investigators -- has been able to identify this mysterious Cambodian female. But the Philadelphia Inquirer has reportedly identified and interviewed the girl, who denies having any role in the violence on December 3: 'I will fight,' says girl, but denies report.
At 1:30 p.m. that day, the report said, two to four African American girls accompanied by a "possibly Cambodian" female attacked an Asian girl, then dragged her downstairs by her hair.
In a massive after-school assault on Broad Street two hours later, the Cambodian girl was "the first to attack" and "the most violent," identified by the principal as kicking a Vietnamese girl, the report said.
Who is she? Few know.
She does, however, acknowledge being in a brawl on the previous day. What I want to know is, why does the district report fixate so closely on this girl? It cites her ten times in its findings and twice in the footnotes. But there were nearly 40 assailants at one point on December 3 -- why the focus on "the Cambodian female"?
Cambodian leaders and Asian advocates question why a lone Cambodian girl is cited again and again among so large a group of assailants - at least 10 to 20 inside the school and 20 to 40 outside, according to the report.Could it be the school district trying really really really hard to broaden the races of those involved and paint the December 3 violence as something other racially motivated? Oh, see -- there was Cambodian girl in the mix! Asians were among the attackers too! It was apparently a multiracial beatdown crew.
They say it's a district attempt to portray the events of Dec. 3 not as "anti-Asian violence" specific to South Philadelphia High, but as general violence that could have happened anywhere.
"We won't make excuses for her, but I want to know how she's tied to the whole thing," said Rorng Sorn, executive director of the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia. "Why is this Cambodian female student being highlighted multiple times?"
Sorn questioned whether the girl had been mentioned so "she can be the scapegoat, and it can be, 'OK, the attackers also had Asians. Maybe it's not racially motivated.' "
Cecilia Chen, a lawyer with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, agreed.
"The district has made a very strong effort to portray the attacks as multiracial, and the fact that they focus so heavily on a single Cambodian female really speaks to that," she said. "It was only Asian immigrant students who were attacked on Dec. 3."
I'm not saying this girl is innocent -- I just don't know enough. Nobody seems to, and the official district report isn't helping a damn bit. I"m just saying, "the Cambodian female" seems like an easy scapegoat. When she's inexplicably singled out and mentioned that many times, you really have to wonder.