Asher Brown
Asher Brown was a thirteen-year-old eight grader, who lived in Cypress, TX, with his mother and stepfather Amy and David Truong. On September 23, 2010, Brown committed suicide by shooting himself with his stepfather's gun. Brown's parents claimed Brown was driven to suicide by years of bullying.
Background
Asher Brown
Brown, 13, was an eighth grade student at Hamilton Middle School in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. 1) David Truong said Brown was an “A” student who loved to read. 2)
Brown was a Buddhist, until shortly before his death. He converted to Christianity in hopes that other students would no longer make fun of his religion. 3)
The day before his suicide, Brown came out to his stepfather. Truong said he did not reject his stepson, and said to him, “We'll talk about it when you get home. I told him”, “You know your mother and I support you.” 4)
Bullying
Brown's parents said he was “bullied to death.” The Truong's claimed that Brown was picked on because of his small stature, his religion, and non-designer clothes and shoes. Students also accused him of being gay, and some performed “mock gay sex acts” on him in his physical education class. 5)
Asher Brown - Anderson Cooper 360
The Truongs said they complained to the school for the past 18 months about their son being bullied, but that their complaints fell on deaf ears. 6) They claimed to have made approximately eight visits and several phone calls to the school but got no response. 7) Initial findings suggest that the Truongs did not contact the school. However, the Truongs had reported that Brown had PTSD, and two weeks before Brown's death had asked counselors to keep an eye on him due to a “significant emotional struggle within the family,” according to the school district. 8)
Asher Brown Newscast
School district spokesperson Kelli Durham, whose husband Alan Durham is an assistant principle at Hamilton, said no students or school employees, or Brown's parents ever reported that he was bullied. 9) However, comments from parents on the KRIV-TV website 10), which reported on Brown's death, stated that Brown had been bullied for several years, and that the school does nothing to stop such harassment. 11) The school district said it conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations of bullying. 12) The findings of that investigation reiterated the school's earlier stance, that the Truong's never reported that Brown was being bullied. 13)
Brown's parents said the last incident of bullying occurred on Wednesday, September 22; the day before Brown took his life. The Truong's said another student tripped Brown as he walked down the stairs. When Brown hit the landing and tried to retrieve his books, the other student kicked Brown's books everywhere and kicked Brown the rest of the way down the stairs. 14)
Suicide
At 4:30 p.m., on Thursday, September 24, 2010, Brown was found dead on the floor of his stepfather's closet, in the family home. Brown used his father's 9mm Beretta, which was stored one of the closets shelves, to shoot himself. His stepfather, David Truong, found Brown's body when he returned home. 15)
Aftermath
Memorial
About 250 people attended a memorial for Brown on Saturday, October 2, 2010. 16) Brown's family planned for about 30 people to attend the memorial at Moore Elementary School. 17)
The Truong's used the day to thank their son's friends. “I want them to get a big round of applause, they stood up for Asher,” said David Truong, Asher’s stepfather. City council member Jolanda Jones attended, and said she knew a young person who committed suicide for the same reason years ago. 18)
A memorial Facebook page set up for Brown received hateful comments. 19)
Community Response
On October 4, 2010, a small group organized by the Foundation for Family and Marriage Equality held a small rally outside of Hamilton Middle school in memory of Brown and to protest bullying. 20) Participants carried signs calling for students to respect one another. The school responded to the rally by canceling after school activities and increasing security officers on campus. 21)
On Monday, October 11, 2010, the Cypress-Fairbanks school board held a meeting to address charges that Hamilton Middle School did not do enough to prevent bullying. Most parents at the meeting spoke in defense of the school. One parent, Roxy McDaniel, said that her son was bullied for three years at Hamilton, and pointed out that bullying usually happens when and where adults are not present. 22)
On Monday, October 18, 2010, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a town hall meeting to address bullying, in response to Brown's death. 23) Brown's parents, the Truongs, spoke at the meeting. A friend of Brown's, Garrett McDaniel, also spoke of his own experience with bullying at Hamilton, and the lack of response from school staff.
Advocacy
Brown's suicide led advocates to push for safe schools legislation.24) State representatives Garnet Coleman and Jessica Farrar announced their intention to introduce an anti-discrimination bill for Texas public schools. Coleman has introduced the bill every session since 2003, but it gained little traction and was repeatedly killed in committee. 25)
The bill would expressly prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of ethnicity, color, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or national origin. Schools have the option of adopting such language, though not all have. “By having it in the state law,” Coleman said, “it says to the school district, we think as a state that children dying because of being terrorized at school — this is a serious public health issue.”
“The opposition is from people who believe there is a homosexual agenda,” Coleman said. “This is just about protecting kids.” 26)
Investigation
Browns death was one of a string of suicides by LGBT youth that led columnist Dan Savage to launch “It Gets Better,” a campaign to prevent LGBT youth suicides.
Prosecutors said they would look into what led up to Brown's suicide. Brown's parents did not request it investigation but have supported it. “Once they find out what's been hidden, we would want the people responsible to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Brown's stepfather, David Truong. 27)
Donna Hawking, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed her office was looking into Brown's suicide, but declined further comment. Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos also said her office would investigate what led to Brown's suicide. In addition, child protective services are investigating whether factors inside or outside the home might have contributed to Brown's suicide. 28)
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