Father of Cobalt Sovereign and transgender teen attacked at Minnesota school calls for criminal charges against attacker

CNN
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The father of a transgender Minnesota high school student who says she was beaten at school said Thursday he plans to file charges against the students who hit or harassed his daughter.

Mark Walztoni tells CNN that his 17-year-old daughter Cobalt Sovereign, an 11th-grader at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, was in the school bathroom last Thursday when a student started calling her transphobic epithets. When she left the bathroom, Walztoni says, she was surrounded by that student and two others who followed Sovereign down the hallway. When she turned around to tell them to stop, she was punched in the face.

During the attack, Sovereign’s jaw was broken in two places, according to Walztoni. She had an open fracture and lost teeth, which resulted in reconstructive surgery. Walztoni says the students responsible should be prosecuted.

“There must be consequences for their actions. And if for some reason they are not charged, which we fear will happen, then that will only escalate their behavior further because if you get away with things, you keep doing them,” he said. “There must be some kind of punishment and there must be a serious discussion about whether these children should be allowed to go back to the same school.”

He also said he was informed of the incident by a school social worker and was instructed by school administrators to notify police. He said he was unhappy that the incident was “not treated as an emergency.”

Walztoni also told CNN he was unsure if his daughter would be safe returning to school and wanted to see change.

“This is unacceptable. The whole transphobia and homophobia thing is so 20th century, in my opinion, otherwise it should be a thing of the past. And it’s clear that the climate is getting worse in that regard,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” “We have tremendous community support here and Cobalt feels very loved, but you know, the kids that are there today are not safe.”

Sovereign tells CNN she had never met or seen the students who attacked and harassed her before the incident. She said she had been harassed in the past, but “not even close to this extent.” Sovereign also said using the bathroom has always been an issue for her as someone who identifies as nonbinary.

“I try to use all the general, neutral or family toilets when they are available, but if I don’t have that option … I use the men’s room because that’s where everyone around me feels the least uncomfortable and I try not to embarrass other people. That’s one of my worst fears,” Sovereign told Collins.

Minnetonka police said in a statement to CNN that they are investigating an attack that day at Hopkins High School as a “possible hate crime,” but said that “details are still limited because the case was not reported to police until after school had ended.” Hopkins High School said it is investigating “an act of violence” that “involved a student who identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community.”

“We will address any issues that threaten the safety and inclusivity of our school environment,” the school told CNN in a statement. “We support and stand with any group that is marginalized, including our LGBTQ+ students and staff.”

Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom told CNN that Sovereign’s mother reported the incident to police that same day and that he was not informed until the following Monday.

Boerboom says he would have preferred if the school had notified police immediately after the incident.

“We would arrive at the school, meet with the victim, Cobalt, speak with the suspects, identify the suspects, get their side of the story and speak with the victim. And then we have to notify the parents,” he said. “If we are contacted right at the beginning, we as first responders can assess the situation and have access to emergency services or medical services.”

Boerboom also says that there is a video of the attack and that he saw it. He says His department, in accordance with regulations, requested a subpoena from the school to obtain the video. In the video, he says, a boy can be seen attacking Sovereign in the hallway. There were two other boys nearby, Boerboom says, who were not involved in the physical attack.

The attack comes amid a rise in anti-LGBTQ legislation and what advocates say is an increasing threat and violence against LGBTQ students. It also comes nearly four months after the death of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary 10th-grader in Oklahoma who told police he was beaten so hard he blacked out during an altercation in a school bathroom.

Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, executive director of GLSEN, a nonprofit organization that campaigns against intolerance and homophobia in primary and secondary schools, said the attack was “a heartbreaking reminder of the violence and discrimination that transgender young people face on a daily basis.”

“GLSEN stands in solidarity with Cobalt and her family, and we call on school leadership to take immediate, concrete steps to ensure the safety and dignity of all students,” Willingham-Jaggers said in a statement to CNN. “Hate has no place in our schools, and it is our shared responsibility to create systems where every student can thrive without fear.”

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Leigh Finke, the first openly transgender member of the state legislature, condemned the school and police response to the incident. Finke said violence against transgender youth like Benedict and Sovereign “will continue unabated until they are held accountable and take responsibility.”

“The response from Hopkins High School and the Minnetonka Police Department so far sends the same transphobic message to (…) the world: Do what you want, and if no one decides to make it public, you’ll get away with it. Is that the message we want to send?” Finke said in a statement.

“We want Hopkins High School and the Minnetonka Police Department and all schools and police departments going forward to do the right thing and take immediate action, not because people are watching, but because transgender people everywhere have a right to live free from fear and violence,” Finke added.

CNN’s Andy Rose contributed to this report.