Las Vegas, Nevada – A Black substitute teacher brutalized a young high school student over what sources say was the alleged use of the “n-word.” An investigation revealed that the suspect was once a former 5-star basketball recruit who was highly regarded as one of the best youth players in the nation.

According to reports, 26-year-old Re’Kwon Smith is now facing numerous charges related to an unhinged assault against a high school student. The attack was captured on a now-viral video, which shows Smith—who is Black—striking and slapping an unidentified teenager in the halls of Valley High School, in Clark County.

The fight, which lasted minutes as crowds of students watched in horror, shows the 6-foot-7 teacher pummel the young boy, who struggled to defend himself against the adult. The assault was said to have originated during an argument in a nearby classroom, where it eventually spilled out into the halls.

Reports state that the student was asked to leave the classroom after he was overheard muttering a “racial slur” by Smith. No evidence of the claim was provided. Video of the attack from numerous angles was aired on social media, which depicts Smith battering the student with closed fists.

After the teen falls to the ground, Smith can be seen hovering over the victim, landing several more blows and taunting him verbally. A campus safety monitor eventually separated the pair.

As Smith is taken away, the victim can be heard shouting, “You’re going to jail nigga!”

Both Smith and the unidentified student were placed into custody. For the crime, the Black educator is facing charges of “battery resulting in serious bodily harm, assault of a school pupil on school property, interfering with a student from attending school, and threatening to do bodily harm to a public school student.”

He is currently being held at the Clark County Detention Center on $9,000 bail, with an initial court appearance set for Friday. According to reports, Smith has been removed from the substitute teacher pool and is no longer eligible to work in the district.

A school statement read, “Violence in any form is unacceptable and goes against the fundamental principles of education and respect…Any altercation between a teacher and a student is thoroughly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary action is taken.”

According to GreatSchools, which aggregates data for parents and researchers, the student body of Valley High School is 66% Hispanic and 18% Black. 100% of students enrolled at the school identify as “low income” and scored only 2/10 for college readiness, according to the data.

Smith, a Las Vegas local who started working in the Clark County School District in November 2023, was a former star basketball player. A forward for the Las Vegas Wildcats, Smith was highly regarded as one of the top High School Basketball players in the class of 2015. At the time, Scout.com ranked Smith as the #45 best player nationally and #66 by Rivals.com.

He eventually received basketball scholarship offers from numerous prestigious universities, including Arizona, California, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, San Diego State, Southern California, and UNLV. A series of torn ACL injuries forced him to give up the sport, but he still managed to finish schooling at the University of Arizona before starting a career in education.

“Last year, I remember talking to one of the other coaches on staff…and after four or five games, I said this kid could end up being the best kid I’ve ever coached,” said Las Vegas Boys Basketball Coach Jason Wilson in a 2014 interview with the Review-Journal. “You could just see something.”

Despite his education, career, and athletic pedigree, Smith still found a way to become implicated in a life-altering act of savage violence. The incident would only track alongside dozens of other incidents of suspected Black crime targeting American youth across the country.

In November, White 17-year-old Jonathan Lewis was brutally beaten to death on video after a group of more than 15 non-White peers ambushed him in an alleyway near Las Vegas’s Rancho High School. Lewis was said to have languished in a hospital for days before finally succumbing to his injuries. For the crime, Police dismissed hate crime charges before any arrests had been made, sparking outrage. His death would later be referred to as a “modern-day lynching.”

Also, in November, a talented musician and college student was shot to death in Nashville, Tennessee. According to reports, the victim, 18-year-old Jillian Ludwig, was shot by a stray bullet while walking at a local park. For that crime, police arrested an “incompetent” Black career criminal who had opened fire from his low-income housing project across the street.

According to the White-Papers Policy Institute (WPPI), American schools are becoming increasingly hostile to students and teachers alike, particularly White ones, thanks to an increase in racial diversity. WPPI’s data suggests that Black students are 85% more likely to engage in violence, and could be responsible for 72% of school shootings nationwide.

The resulting violence has pushed out educators. Since 2020, 7%-10% of the educational workforce has resigned. As of 2023, 44% of American school districts now lack sufficient manpower, while 55% of teachers are “considering leaving the profession early.”

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