SPOKANE — One of the victims in the civil lawsuit against the Mead School District testified Monday, describing a 2023 hazing attack at an Eastern Washington University football camp that he says left him feeling numb and changed his life.
The district faces a lawsuit over how it handled reports of the incident. The jury will determine the amount of damages the district owes the victims and their families.
The victim, who cannot be identified, was a sophomore at the time of the attack. He testified that Mead upperclassmen forced their way into his dorm room, held him to the ground while chanting phrases including “the sacrifice,” and applied a massage gun to his genital area. He described the attack as planned and said he had been afraid beforehand.
Since the attack, the victim testified the incident led him to experience his first panic attacks and lose trust in people. He said he has felt numb and not himself. He also testified the harassment did not stop after the attack — that people continued to direct racist remarks at him and bully him, and that nothing was done about it.
During cross-examination, the defense asked whether the victim recalled any racial comments being made during the attack itself. He said no. When asked whether he reported the racist comments to football coaches, he said he did not — because the coaches were present when those remarks were made.
The victim’s father testified through tears about how his son has changed since the attack.
“His personality was not there anymore, that his excitement for a lot of things was missing,” the father said.
Friends of the victim also took the stand Monday.
The trial is expected to continue Tuesday, when the second victim is scheduled to testify.
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