A Texas man and his daughter are fighting back after the high school student was suspended for defending herself from an assault that took place during class.
In March, as shown by a viral cellphone video posted to X, a girl later identified as Brooklyn Gianfrancesco had a confrontation with a male student at Taylor High School in Katy, Texas.
Video showed the male, who is black, throw a punch at the girl, who is white, as a teacher stood behind a podium without trying to intervene. The girl then launched a counter-attack as the teacher scurried for the door.
The video showed the altercation, with the male holding down the girl as a student tried to intervene. One poster called the boy in the fight a “bully.”
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A high school girl in Texas confronted her school board Tuesday after she was allegedly beaten by a male student in a classroom.
Footage of the incident appears to show Brooklyn Gianfrancesco, a high schooler at Katy ISD, being slapped and tackled by a boy.… pic.twitter.com/omL2J6480v
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) April 25, 2025
As a result of the scuffle, both students were suspended for three days. Danny Gianfrancesco has dogged the school board to change its unfair policy, according to KHOU.
“I come to your meetings because my daughter was assaulted on the 25th of March by a football player,” Gianfrancesco said at a recent meeting. “He was beating her like his life depended on it.”
Gianfrancesco said the boy in the fight, a football player, had harassed his daughter throughout the school year with impunity. Her boyfriend had told the athlete to leave her alone.
The boy claimed he was the victim of harassment. School officials called the incident a “mutual confrontation” and suspended both students for three days, without watching the video.
“Anybody that sees this video knows it’s not a mutual confrontation; it’s a boy assaulting a girl,” Gianfrancesco said. “The violence in the district needs to stop, and we need to change the discipline policy to protect students and teachers.”
Gianfrancesco said the boy should face an assault charge.
“I don’t want that to happen to anyone else’s daughter. That video is so hard to watch. I can’t even watch it anymore. There shouldn’t be so much confusion on a situation like this that is plain as day: an assault of a boy on a girl. When did that change to be OK?” Gianfrancesco said, according to KTRK-TV.
The school offered a statement by way of explaining its decision.
“The district is aware of an altercation between two students at Taylor High School on Tuesday, March 25. Katy ISD campus administration and police conducted an immediate investigation to verify the details of the altercation and contacted the students’ parents/guardians,” the statement said.
“Once investigated by campus administrators and the Katy ISD Police, students whose behavior violates the Student Code of Conduct face disciplinary consequences in accordance with Katy ISD Discipline Management, the Student Code of Conduct and law enforcement, when appropriate.”
Sherry Ashorn, the district’s director of student affairs, said self-defense does not avert punishment, according to the New York Post.
“If you are confronted by another student, you should avoid from striking back,” Ashorn said. “It does state that regardless if you start to fight, both students can be disciplined accordingly.”
Brooklyn Gianfrancesco, the victim of the assault, said the school has stonewalled her father’s efforts to access security video that could prove an assault was committed, according to the Katy News.
“What happened to me on March 25 was clearly an assault anywhere else except my school,” she said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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