NAUGATUCK, Conn. — The Naugatuck community had tough conversations after the police chief's daughter was accused of sending racist Snapchat posts two years ago.
The message recently came to light and the school district turned this into a teaching moment.
A letter from Naugatuck Police Chief Steven Hunt and his wife, Johnna Hunt was sent to the community over the weekend to acknowledge the messages from their daughter.
The parents wrote, "While we fully intend to hold our daughter accountable for her mistakes, we will continue to offer her the same unconditional love any parent would show a child who has erred but showed remorse."
The teen's mother is also an associate principal at Naugatuck High School and on Monday, students reacted to that.
"You have these people in power and their child who openly threatened black lives - whether or not it was in a joking manner or not - it was still a blatant threat," said Tenzin Dhondup, a junior at the school.
"It was just scary to think that somebody can make these remarks and somebody with such authority - it makes you think who else can get away with it you know what I mean?" said Alexis Siggars, a senior at the school.
It was not a typical Monday for students. They were broken up into groups for what the principal called "an open campus," a time for them and their teachers to talk about their feelings.
A message from Principal John Harris posted on the high school's website and said the open campus will continue to Tuesday.
A parent FOX61 spoke to said the school is approaching this the wrong way.
"They should've dealt with the parents and the guardians of these kids before they deal with the kids. Of course, the kids have feelings and emotions, and they want to be addressed we as parents have to send our kids to the community," said a parent who wanted to remain anonymous.
Superintendent Christopher Montini emailed a letter to parents and students on Monday and said any claim or incident of racism will be taken seriously.
FOX61 was declined an interview by the Naugatuck Police Department.
Students will be holding a school walkout tomorrow at noon where they will be gathering at the football field to discuss this.
A march involving the entire community will take place Wednesday outside of the high school starting at 12:30 p.m.