Video shows large brawl at Andrew High School in Tinley Park following series of racist incidents

TINLEY PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- A video has surfaced showing a large brawl at a Tinley Park high school Wednesday that followed a series of racist incidents.

Muslim students said a fight occurred inside Victor J. Andrew High School after a classmate desecrated a Quran.

"Yeah, the Quran, the holy book. He was talking to us about it. Then he spit on it, he ripped it. He said, 'I'm going to do this again,'" said Ahmad Alnashif, a student at the Tinley Park school.

However, school district officials said the Quran was not destroyed or damaged at the school on Wednesday.

School officials said 10 students were disciplined after two separate fights because of a culturally insensitive video that was more than a year old.

There are conflicting reports about what the year-old video shows, and that's not the only incident. Students say another video recently surfaced on social media.

The video shows photos of two people with apparently darkened faces with captions that used a racial slur, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. One of the captions said "blackface is sweeping the nation," according to the newspaper.

Muslim students insist a Quran was damaged.

"We want to stand up for ourselves, and what they did was wrong," Alnashif said.

Bob Nolting, the school's principal, said that students have been equally and appropriately disciplined. He also released a statement after investigating the incident.

"Through our investigation, we feel there is no imminent threat or safety concern at school," he said.

The tension, according to one parent, has been building at the school, African Americans included.

"Let's call it what it is: racism," said Tamika Howard. "There have been matters and incidents leading up to the incident that took place yesterday."

Tinley Park police are aware of the situation, and are waiting for the school to finish its investigations before deciding their next step, if any.

Meanwhile, students held a peaceful protest Thursday. They're planning another for Friday.

"Even if we may not understand what people believe in, we can still learn to respect them and love them, regardless," said senior student Elizabeth Mehess.

Student Ameera Atieh said, "We need to spread more awareness about this."

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.