CALDWELL, Texas — A student from Caldwell High School organized a protest after a classmate said she was forcibly stripped on a school bus, leading to the arrest of four volleyball players.
The alleged incident happened Sept. 21 in Milam County while the volleyball team traveled home from a tournament.
According to the arrest affidavits, Katherine Hart, 18, Marina Brinkman, 17, Sophie Goodman, 17, and Kadie Hartman, 17, removed a teammate's pants and underwear, exposing her genitals.
Gilbert Rangel, a freshman at Caldwell High School, helped organize a protest Saturday in Caldwell to push for accountability.
"I felt like we did the right thing," said Rangel. "If they're not going to do nothing about it, then we should as a community, come together and solve the problem that they're not trying to solve anymore."
One woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, believes they’re doing the right thing.
“The girls need to be held accountable," she said. "If you’re going to hold my grandson accountable and all the other kids that walked out that day, then you need to do the same for those girls. And that was the whole point of the walk out."
Rangel said the lack of support at the off-campus protest shows people are afraid to speak up.
“We need to make it be known that they need to do something instead of just letting them just walk around and letting that poor girl see the people who’d done that to her every single day,” said Rangel.
No matter what, Rangel hopes his voice will help ensure the suspects in this case are held accountable.
Members in the community have also started a petition pushing for change to the school's policy on bullying, hazing, and harassment.
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