Student athletes at a McRae, Georgia, high school are being disciplined after a “racist” snap surfaced of them posing with white bags over their heads with eyes cut out – appearing to be like the white hoods worn by members of the Klu Klux Klan.

The photo was reportedly taken last week after the Telfair County High School tennis team lost a state tournament game to another Georgia high school team that had several black players, 13WMAZ reported.

The school’s superintendent, Lenard Harrelson, called photo “highly offensive” and said the students involved are being disciplined, though it is not clear how.

A Change.org petition, which has garnered hundreds of signatures, is calling for school officials to prohibit the students from participating in the graduating ceremonies.

The photo reportedly came from Snapchat and then was posted on Facebook.

One user on Facebook said, “This is not kids being kids, this is racists being racist,” calling on the principal to immediately expel the kids in the photo.

A Democratic mayor from Pennsylvania has resigned nearly a month after he was arrested for allegedly soliciting a woman for sex — a woman who turned out to be a police informant.

Bloomsburg Mayor Eric Bower, 36, initially claimed the accusations were made up because of his “political position.”

He was arrested on April 20 after investigators said he showed up at a Hampton Inn with condoms and $200 in cash. According to the attorney general’s office, the woman, whom Bower solicited for sex that day, was “a Pennsylvania State Police confidential informant.”

Police said Bower met with the informant on several different occasions, with the most recent meetup resulting in his arrest.

“Bower negotiated a fee for sex with the informant and arrived at the location with cash and condoms, where he was taken into custody by police,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.

ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN, POWERFUL NY DEMOCRAT ACCUSED OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND DRUG ABUSE, RESIGNS AS STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Four days after his arrest, Bower told WNEP that the unidentified woman was a friend — he described their relationship as “very playful, you know.”

At the time he planned to fight the charges, claiming that it was a “setup because of my political position.”

However, the Democrat, who was elected in November, announced Thursday through the attorney general’s office that he would be waiving a preliminary hearing and immediately would vacate the mayor’s office.  

He also stepped down from his post as a state constable.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said that Bower “flouted the law.”

“No one is above the law,” Shapiro said in a statement. “I will not allow individuals in power to abuse the trust the public has placed in them. I’m rooting out public corruption wherever we find it, without fear or favor.”

SCHNEIDERMAN RESIGNATION LEAVES REPLACEMENT ATTORNEY GENERAL UP TP NEW YORK LEGILATURE

But Bower’s attorney, Patrick O’Connell, said that the decision to step down was done for the good of Bloomsburg, a small town northwest of Philadelphia.

“The town of Bloomsburg needs to focus on the tasks that it needs to focus on, running an efficient local government, which is challenging enough. But these charges caused a circus environment. Eric Bower recognized that and for the better of the town, decided to resign,” O’Connell said.

Earlier reporting at the time of Bower’s arrest by WOLF cited him as saying that he planned to “hold” his position as mayor and fight the charges against him. Now that he has resigned, it remains unclear if he will continue to dispute the allegations against him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A commencement speaker at a Virginia all-women’s college upset students and alumni for her criticism of the #MeToo movement on Saturday, according to a report from Inside Higher Ed.

The #MeToo movement has driven up the demand of female speakers during commencement ceremonies, according to the The Associated Press. So attendees of the Sweet Briar College graduation ceremony seemed taken aback when speaker Nella Gray Barkley – a 1955 graduate of the college – said she only gives the movement “partial sympathy” when discussing sexual harassment and feminism.

“I have little patience with the woman who arrives breathlessly at her boss’s hotel room for a so-called conference,” Barkley said in speech that was not vetted by the college. “What does she think was going to happen?”

AT TOP 45 COLLEGES, NO CONSERVATIVES INVITED FOR COMMENCEMENT: REPORT

She came under fire for comments to the graduating students like “it is you who makes the ground rules,” that it’s “only natural for men from Mars to follow the shortest skirt in the room.”

Barkley also told the audience: “I’m no raging feminist. I actually love men, and I married one.”

She said during her speech that she didn’t intend to suggest graduates put on their armor and “ride into battle in a man’s world.”

“In fact, I do not believe it's a men's world,” she said. “We women just need to claim the part of it we want and claim that with high expectations and no ambivalence.”

Almost immediately after her speech, in closed Facebook groups, students and alumni began criticizing Barkley, calling it “shameful and disgusting” and that the school should be “embarrassed” for hosting her. The college, however, strongly defended her speech.  

In an email to students Sunday night, Sweet Briar College President Meredith Woo applauded Barkley as a “trail blazer” and “distinguished alumna” who provoked a conversation on campus.

"At this stage in your life, you have not experienced the complexities and contradictions which get presented in so many guises and contexts,” Woo wrote. “Regardless, one principle is unassailable: that you, as woman, have dominion over your physical self, free from coercion, pressure or influence related to your sexuality.”

Woo said Barkley, in her speech, “celebrated and applauded” women who came forward during the #MeToo movement.

“But she also raised the question of agency and purpose: how we act responsibly to avoid and thwart situations that happen all too often in life,” she said. “You don’t have to accept or refuse her perspective – that is not the point – but I ask you to think about it. That’s what you have earned as [an] alumna of Sweet Briar – a woman with an ability to listen, cogitate, and take from it what you wish, and get on with your life."

A Republican candidate's video announcing his “deportation bus tour” in the Georgia governor’s race was briefly pulled from YouTube Wednesday after the site initially deemed it in violation of internal “hate speech” policies. 

The candidate, Michael Williams, accused YouTube of being "the latest liberal California company stifling conservative free speech to appease the hard-left."

Williams, a state senator and former Georgia co-chair for the Trump campaign, had announced the tour through the state’s sanctuary cities on Tuesday as a way to highlight the dangers of illegal immigration.

“If you're as tired as I am of politicians who do nothing but talk, and you want to see this bus filled with illegals, vote Michael Williams on May 22,” he said in the video.

According to a press release accompanying the video, he intends to use the tour to “expose how dangerous illegal aliens ruin local economies, cost American jobs, increase healthcare costs, and lower education standards.” 

In the video, the bus can be seen with slogans on the back such as “Follow Me to Mexico” and “Danger! Murderers, Rapists, Kidnappers, Child Molestors, and Other Criminals on Board.” It is the latest move by Republican candidates to take a hard line on illegal immigration, using rhetoric similar to President Trump's. 

“We’re not just going to track them, or watch them roam around our state. We’re going to put them on this bus, and send them home,” Williams says in the ad.

But on Wednesday, the video was pulled from YouTube and replaced by a message: “This video has been removed for violating YouTube's policy on hate speech.”

Williams blasted the move in a statement: "Perhaps YouTube’s executives would like to move their families into an area that has been destroyed by illegals. It might give them perspective."

But by Wednesday afternoon, the video was back up. A YouTube spokesperson told Fox News that "with the massive volume of videos on our platform, sometimes we make the wrong call on content that is flagged by our community."

"When this is brought to our attention, we review the content and take appropriate action, including restoring videos or channels that were mistakenly removed," the spokesperson said.

“Conservatives have been blasting YouTube for their policies," William's campaign said in a statement. "This shows that when Fearless Conservatives stand up and refuse to back down, we can win!" 

Williams is not the only candidate in the race to take a hard line on illegal immigration. Current Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp last week promised to “round up criminal illegals” in his truck.

“I got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself,” he said. Kemp’s video has not been removed as of Wednesday morning.

Kemp and Williams will face off against other Republicans looking to replace outgoing Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, including frontrunner Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, former state Sen. Hunter Hill, and businessman Clay Tippins. 

A new tax approved by the Seattle City Council has triggered a fierce war of words between the liberal city and its behemoth corporations usually known for their progressive outlook. 

Starbucks and Amazon are now blasting the decision to slap a new “head tax” on businesses to pay for homeless services and affordable housing -- saying the government's own lack of efficiency is to blame for the city’s woes. 

“The city does not have a revenue problem – it has a spending efficiency problem,” Drew Herdener, Amazon vice president, said in a statement. “We are highly uncertain whether the city council’s anti-business positions or its spending inefficiency will change for the better.” 

The Seattle City Council on Monday passed a plan to tax businesses making at least $20 million in gross revenues about $275 per full-time worker each year. That “head tax” is estimated to raise about $48 million -- which authorities are marking for housing and homeless services.

“We have community members who are dying,” Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said before the vote, according to The Seattle Times. “They are dying on our streets today because there is not enough shelter” and housing.

But the two corporate behemoths reacted angrily to the news. Nearly 600 employers — about 3 percent of all Seattle businesses — would pay the tax starting in 2019. Amazon said it is being forced to question future growth in the city, and noted that revenue was increasing quicker than the population increase.

Amazon is headed by Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post. The Internet giant also has drawn criticism from President Trump, who has complained Amazon does not pay enough taxes. 

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Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez slammed Amazon, saying "their tone in this message that is clearly hostile toward the city council is not what I expect from a business who continues to tell us that they want to be a partner on these issues."

Seattle-based Starbucks, which regularly touts its progressive values, accused the council of ignoring the plight of children who have to sleep outside.

"If they cannot provide a warm meal and safe bed to a 5-year-old child, no one believes they will be able to make housing affordable or address opiate addiction," Starbucks' John Kelly said in a statement.

But the proposal itself had actually been reduced, with the initial pitch putting the tax at $500 per head, in order to pick up enough votes to pass and avoid a mayoral veto.

The Associated Press reports that the Seattle region had the third-highest number of homeless people in the U.S., despite the city spending $68 million on combating homelessness last year.

Head taxes are extremely rare in the U.S. and the ones in place are a fraction of Seattle’s proposal. In Denver, there is a $50-per-year tax for a full-time employee, while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel scrapped the Windy City’s tax after calling it a job killer.

Seattle once had a $25-a-year per head tax, but killed it in 2009 because leaders said it sent the wrong message to businesses during the recession.

Fox News’ Dan Springer, Hillary Vaughn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

Students and parents were outraged after a caged tiger and other animals made an appearance at a jungle-themed Florida high school prom Friday.

Christopher Columbus High School, a private Catholic school in Miami, held its prom at a hotel near Miami International Airport, where a caged tiger was wheeled out onto the dance floor, according to WSVN-TV.

Amid fire dancers and loud music, the tiger was seen pacing back and forth in its cage and appeared nervous. Students could be seen filming the festivities on their cellphones.

Marie-Christine Castellanos, whose brother attended the prom, was shocked when she learned details about the event.

“This is an event to have fun and amusement, but is torturing an animal really considered amusement?” she told WSVN-TV. “You guys paid to see this happen to an innocent animal who had nowhere to run, who was completely afraid.”

Castellanos' mother, Maria, also expressed dismay with the event.

“I was appalled. We are animal advocates in this house,” she said.

"You guys paid to see this happen to an innocent animal who had nowhere to run, who was completely afraid.”

- Marie-Christine Castellanos

PETA slammed the high school for the display, saying animals “do not need to be in a party situation.”

Despite the criticism, the school’s marketing director defended the decision to bring in the animals, saying in a statement to WSVN-TV the animals were brought in by professionals and school officials were assured they were properly cared for.

“The event included jungle themed decorations and several animals were displayed in a very controlled situation, including a lemur, two macaws, an African fennec fox and a tiger,” the statement read.

All of the creatures were "provided by facilities that are licensed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission," the statement added. The school said the hotel also approved the animals’ role in the performance.

“The tiger, which was displayed for a few minutes in a cage, was never harmed or in danger, was not forced to perform, was always accompanied by his handlers, and for the great majority of the time was laying down in a relaxed state facing away from the audience,” officials said.

Former Yale University basketball star Jack Montague is continuing his fight to finish his degree at the Ivy League school after a Title IX sexual misconduct complaint that he says got him “wrongfully and improperly” expelled.

Montague, a former men's basketball captain, made headlines in 2016 when he was expelled for “penetration without consent” shortly after leading Yale to its first NCAA tournament since 1962. The lawsuit is one of at least two reverse gender discrimination claims against the university.

Montague’s spokeswoman, Karen Schwartzman, told Fox News the case is slated to go to trial in the fall, while a Yale spokesperson said the case is still in the discovery phase.

Montague, who is suing to be readmitted to Yale, transferred to Belmont University, the largest Christian university in his home state of Tennessee. But his basketball days are done, as Montague exhausted his eligibility at Yale.

Montague alleges one of Yale’s Title IX officers, amid pressure to restore Yale’s “tarnished image” on issues of sexual misconduct, misled and coerced the accuser into cooperating in the complaint – even though it wasn’t the first or only time Montague and Jane Doe, as the woman was identified in court documents, had consensual sexual interactions or intercourse.

The suit alleges the Title IX officer brought the complaint against Montague despite being told the woman did not believe Montague heard her when she tried to end their October 2014 sexual encounter, and no criminal charges were ever sought. Montague said he was confused as to why he was ever investigated – given their interactions were consensual.

Yale’s attorneys have said the woman made it clear she did not want to have intercourse and that the school and its officials acted appropriately. Yale’s university-wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, created in 2011, has investigated 64 cases – though only a few have resulted in expulsion.

A tenured Columbia University professor of Iranian studies is under fire for a controversial series of tweets he fired off following President Trump’s announcement the United States pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Hamid Dabashi, who also teaches comparative literature at the Ivy League school, blamed Israel for every “dirty” problem in the world in a tweet on Monday.

A pro-Israel student group is calling on the university to rebuke Dabashi for his harsh comments.

“Students Supporting Israel at Columbia University condemns Professor Dabashi's anti-Semitic post,” the pro-Israel club told Fox News in statement. “It is unfortunate that the university does not join us in our condemnation. The university's lack of action signals to all professors like Professor Dabashi that the Jewish and Zionist students on Columbia's campus are an easy target. We hope the university will decide to join us in fostering inclusivity and helping to create a campus environment where all students feel safe.”

Dabashi, who was born in Iran, denounced Trump’s decision and then bashed Israel.

“Every dirty treacherous ugly and pernicious act happening in the world just wait for a few days and the ugly name of ‘Israel’ will pup…” Dabashi wrote in a tweet Monday linking to a New York Times article that accuses Israeli intelligence of gathering “dirt” on Benjamin Rhodes, President Barack Obama’s national security aide. “These laughing hyaenas —the Zionists the Saudis and the US neocons are f**** with the wrong country — in their stupidity and ignorance they think they are fighting with the Iranian government — they are dead wrong — they are picking up a fight...”

The anti-Israel professor also took aim at Trump.

“Everything he says is a lie – everything,” he tweeted, adding that “every decent human being on planet earth was for the Nuclear deal with Iran— every decent human being of course except for Trump and Netanyahu and their followers.“

Dabashi linked to a video from two years ago featuring celebrities Jack Black and Morgan Freeman to back up his point, as they point out that without the Iran nuclear deal “we would all be dead” or “at war with Iran.”

In a Facebook post, he called the Jewish State a “racist apartheid state” and then attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This ridiculous man, this notorious, corrupt, criminally insane creature, this laughing stock of every decent civilized human being on planet earth, this pathetic pathological liar, this vulgar vicious charlatan,” he wrote, “this settler colonialist racist thug, this war criminal, this leading perpetrator of crimes against humanity, this nightmare who needs to be put in a [straitjacket] and chained to a cage in an asylum house or a zoo…”

Critics called his tweets hate.

"Blaming the Jewish state for every problem in the world is virulent anti-Semitism, echoing rhetoric that has led to oppression and violence against Jews for centuries,” Rena Nasar, a StandWithUs campus director, told Campus Reform. “Unfortunately, this is unsurprising coming from a professor with a long history of racism against Jews and Israelis. Columbia University should unequivocally condemn this hate coming from one of its faculty members."

Neither Professor Dabashi nor the university immediately responded to request for comment.

Female Republicans among New York state's lawmakers are urging Eric Schneiderman to donate his $8.5 million campaign war chest to an anti-domestic-abuse charity following revelations that this week cost the disgraced former state attorney general his job.

In addition, the National Organization for Women is also after Schneiderman's lucrative fund following his spectacular fall from grace.

Schneiderman "has repeatedly portrayed himself as a supporter of the #MeToo movement and a champion of women," the seven Republicans wrote in a statement. "This was a lie -- he was a fraud and a hypocrite.

"He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence. In addition, any recipient of his campaign funds should donate those monies to domestic violence causes so that some good may come from these abhorrent and indefensible acts," the statement added.

On Monday, four women stepped forward and accused the powerful Democrat of sexual misconduct in a New Yorker magazine article. Schneiderman resigned just hours after the story went public.

Meanwhile, the New York State Democratic Party says it has cleansed itself of all past donations from Schneiderman, sending the money to an anti-domestic violence charity just a day after the revelations.

But questions remained about whether individual Democrats in the state would follow suit.

A state party official told Fox News on Thursday that all contributions Schneiderman made to the party over the last 20 years were donated to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

"He should be prosecuted, and the roughly $8.5 million in his campaign account should be donated to programs that help the victims of domestic violence."

- Seven Republican state lawmakers in New York.

The party official put the total redirected donation at $1,400, but other reports suggest the contributions amounted to as much as $8,900.

The domestic-abuse charity confirmed it received a donation, but didn't reveal the exact figure.

Other Schneiderman donations to political groups included a $2,700 contribution in 2015 to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and $1,000 in 2007 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

Spokespeople for Clinton and the DSCC did not respond to multiple Fox News requests for a comment on whether contributions from Schneiderman would be returned or donated to a charity.

Clinton has been traveling overseas, with recent stops in New Zealand and Australia.

Last year, when sexual misconduct allegations about Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein were revealed, Clinton pledged she would donate the money given by Weinstein to charity. The Clinton Foundation, meanwhile, said it wouldn't return as much as $250,000 in donations from Weinstein because the money had already been spent.

The Working Families Party also reportedly received $24,500 from Schneiderman, but said it won't shed the tainted contributions. Instead, it told the New York Post, "We're going to use every cent in support of great women candidates. The best way to change the system is to put progressive women in power."

A free speech group filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan for imposing speech codes it calls “unconstitutional” and “un-American.”  

Speech First, a nonprofit aimed at combating free speech restrictions on college campuses, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in federal court, claiming UM’s definition of harassment and bullying, referenced in the student conduct code, is overly vague and forbids protected speech.

“The most important indication of bias is your own feelings,” the public university writes on its Bias Response Team page of incidents. The lawsuit alleges there have been 150 reported incidents since April 2017 in the form of verbal comments, classroom behavior, posters, fliers and social media.

“Bias response teams are fundamentally un-American and have no place on college campuses,” Nicole Neily, president of Speech First told Fox News. “We’ve seen these programs before – in East Germany and in communist China – they don’t belong in American universities.”

Students who violate the speech codes or are found responsible for bias incidents face discipline ranging from training sessions to suspension or expulsion. Wolverines say they have avoided topics like immigration, identity politics, and abortion because they are fearful of being reported and having to undergo “restorative justice,” “individualized education,” or “unconscious bias training.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) found over 231 schools that have bias response teams like this one, affecting a total of 2.8 million students, according to a report from 2016.

Cabot Phillips, Campus Reform’s media director, told America’s Newsroom on Thursday that the speech codes and bias response teams constituted a “witch hunt” against conservative students. 

“The university punishes students based on how controversial or offensive their words are. Well, by nature, the most controversial ideas will be the ones that are least present, and in college campuses it’s overwhelmingly conservative ideas that are not present, so it’s going to be conservative students that are facing the brunt of this,” Phillips said. “Any student, it doesn’t matter political affiliation, no student should have to fear bringing up ideas that may make people a little uncomfortable.”

The University of Michigan did not immediately respond to request for comment.

The parents of an Alabama high school quarterback filed a $12 million lawsuit Monday after their son suffered a broken arm in an alleged hazing incident at his school.

The lawsuit also asks Davidson High School, in Mobile, to forfeit its upcoming season, fire the entire coaching staff, bring felony charges against the players involved in the attack and ban hazing in all high schools across the U.S., FOX10 reported.

The suit, filed against Mobile County, comes in the wake of a graphic video that surfaced last week that appears to show multiple players beating Rodney Kim Jr., 14, in the school’s locker room, according to FOX10. About 20 players were allegedly involved in the incident, hitting and kicking Kim on the floor, his parents told the station.

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO

"There's some hatred in there, I mean they beat him, they maliciously beat him. I mean, it's just uncalled for...I mean you never envision your child, being so helpless, and you can't do anything," Rodney Kim, Sr., told FOX10.

The teen was taken to the hospital and suffered a broken arm, busted lip and several bruises, the station reported. Mary Kim, the boy’s mother, told AL.com her son has had trouble sleeping since the attack.

"They've taken from him his dream, how much is a dream worth? They've taken from him his dream of being a football player. He was a star football player...So $12 million, why $12 million? Because it's not enough for what they've left this boy with, he is damaged for life," Charles Bonner, the family’s attorney said at Wednesday’s press conference.

"It's not the kids who beat him, who savagely attacked him, that are responsible. We expect kids to be kids. We don't expect adults to whom we entrust the lives and the safety of our children to turn a deaf ear and a blind eye and say nothing about this kind of violence."

Four players have been suspended since the attack and Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich plans to prosecute the students responsible, according to FOX10.

A Cornell University senior delivered her honors thesis after stripping down to her bra and underwear in front of her teacher and classmates -- 44 of whom also undressed -- in a bid to "stand against oppressive beliefs and discrimination," Campus Reform reported Tuesday.

Letitia Chai removed her undergarments for her “Acting in Public” presentation Saturday as a demonstration against her professor, Rebekah Maggor, who questioned Chai's attire during her talk about refugee relocation, according to The Cornell Daily Sun.

“When I got up to start, my professor said: ‘Is that really what you would wear?’” Chai, who said she was “shook” and filled with “rage and disbelief” after the incident, wrote in a Facebook post that soon went viral. “She, a white woman, continued: ‘Your shorts are too short.’”

Chai recalled wearing a “long-sleeve blue button-down shirt and denim cut-offs,” which she alleges her professor told her was “inviting the male gaze away from the content of my presentation and onto my body.” She says an international male student agreed with the professor.

Chai said Maggor tried to justify her question by explaining she was addressing her from the point of view of a concerned mother, to which Chai replied, her mom “is a Feminist, Gender, Sexuality Studies professor” who would’ve been proud of her for her outfit.

In the class syllabus, students’ “dress” is one of the course requirements.

​“For your performances, dress appropriately for the persona you will present,” the syllabus reads, “For example, how would you dress for a specific job interview? How would you dress when introducing a famous speaker at a particular conference? How would you dress to give a speech at a protest rally?”

The students in the class, while still supporting Chai, wrote a joint letter defending the professor’s comments, but nevertheless the faculty will undergo “training in diversity, equity, and inclusion” as a result of the exchange, according to an email Chai posted Monday.

When Fox News reached out to Maggor for comment, a Cornell spokesperson said the school had nothing to add. Chai did not respond to a request for comment.