| COUNTY CENTER WHITE PLAINS NY |
"What doesn't seem to sit well with us is that a small group of irresponsible teenagers who are not involved in our sports programs are now the face of our town. I don't think that's fair," said senior T.J. Sacco, 17, outside the Bliss Dairy Bar & Grill in Mahopac. "Ninety-nine percent of us disagree with what they said. I don't think we should have a label as this racist town."
Sacco is co-leader of the Mahopac Maniacs, a student fan group whose intensity has sometimes led to trouble. He was at the Feb. 27 game at the Westchester County Center and said that Mount Vernon fans taunted the Mahopac fans. He said 10 to 12 Mount Vernon adults threw shirts at the Mahopac fans and made hostile remarks.
"That might have sparked it. That might have been the ignition. But there's no excuse for what they said," Sacco said referring to racially disparaging tweets posted by Mahopac students after the game. "I think both sides participated in inappropriate acts. Two wrongs don't make a right."
Mount Vernon officials said Friday that the racist taunts were not isolated to the fans or the tweets, and that the Mahopac players themselves used the N-word to the Mount Vernon players in violation of state Education Law.
Meanwhile, a video circulating among Mahopac residents shows a cluster of middle-aged Mount Vernon men standing at the foot of the bleachers near the end of the game deriding the Mahopac student fans. The video doesn't show what the Mahopac fans are doing but one of the Mount Vernon men gestures up to the stands, apparently calling on one of the teens to meet him outside.
"I know Mount Vernon has a part in this. We didn't act like that for no reason," said Mahopac High sophomore Kaitlyn MacNeil, 15. "But I also know we were wrong to say the things that were said."
Mahopac High School sophomore Ali Korin also disagreed with the way her town has been characterized.
"It was definitely wrong, the comments the students made," said Korin, 15. "But I felt like the reporters, the way they spun the story was also unfair. It was very one-sided."
The confrontation between Mount Vernon and Mahopac that included a scuffle in the stands after the game has gained national attention as school leaders from both communities seek solutions.
Mahopac students said they attended a school meeting Friday that included discussions on holding a high standard when using social media and how there is "no place for racist comments or hurtful stereotypes, online, in school, in our community or anywhere in the world."
Five more students have been suspended in connection with the racist Twitter rants.
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