Wisconsin Kids Yell 'Donald Trump, Build That Wall' At Latina Soccer Players

By Mae Rice in News on Apr 12, 2016 3:07PM

At a high school girls' soccer game in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, student spectators heckled Latina players on the opposing team with shouts of "Donald Trump, build that wall.”

This is a reference to the Republican presidential candidate's often-stated plan to build a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border in an effort to keep Mexican immigrants out of the country.

After the soccer game, in which students from Elkhorn heckled Latina players from Beloit Memorial, the mother of a Latina Beloit player told WISC-TV that her daughter was devastated by the chants. "I saw her, she was crying and she goes down to her room," Haide Reyes said, describing seeing her daughter after the game. "I asked her if she was hungry and she said, 'No I'm OK I want to be in my room.' I was sad and I was angry, too."

The district administrator for the Elkhorn school district, Jason Tadlock, has released a statement about the incident:

At this time we can confirm that three elementary aged students who were sitting near Beloit fans said “Trump, build a wall”. Later in the game two high school students stated back and forth “Trump” four to five times.

It has been reported that the game was stopped.

The statement promised to "address the behavior," but also specified that the district "will not release specifics of student disciplinary action taken."

Tadlock's statement noted another, more traditional incident of poor sportsmanship at the same game, in which an Elkhorn fan yelled "You suck!" at a Beloit player who had made "an inappropriate gesture" at the Elkhorn fans.

This incident feels like an idyllic scene from the book Heidi compared to the other one—yet this was the incident, according to CBS, that prompted officials to stop the game.

"I feel like this should not be happening," Cecilia Ramirez, coordinator for the Latino Service Providers Coalition in Beloit, told WISC-TV of the incident. "It's 2016."