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The two-minute video, shared on YouTube by the group "JusticeForEthan" shows a group of teens—reportedly from Eagle Ridge Middle School—preying on the young preschooler who was sobbing and begging for the torment to stop.
"Don't hurt me!" the child shouted while clutching a blue blanket he tried to hide behind while the teens called him offensive names. "Save me! Save me!" he shouted while running to the corner of his family's porch in Ashburn.
While still repeating racially-offensive names toward the young boy, the teens ran away after their first barrage, giggling on camera, only to turn back around to shout more slurs at the boy.
"Go eat your dumplings," one of them shouted. "Listen here, fella, are you having dumplings for dinner?"
That's when a parent entered the equation.
Hearing the child's pleas, his mother came to the front door, at which point the bullies retreated like cowards, with one exclaiming "oh s--t, he's telling on me," while fleeing the area on foot.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office was advised of the incident, but no charges have been filed due to their ages.
Some are calling for the teens' parents to be held responsible for the actions of their children.
"The parents of the middle school kids should be blamed as this is obviously a result of bad family education," a member of the community said.
"A normal kid would never do something like this to other people," Zhe Huang continued. "Shame on the family who raise their kids to come such a racist."
The incident had a wide-ranging impact on the community, which rallied behind the boy and raised more than $45,000 "to pursue legal action, protect Ethan’s rights, and stand against racial hate targeting children."
"Our 5-year-old son, Ethan, was racially harassed by a middle school student in our own neighborhood," his parents wrote in a GoFundMe that went as viral as the video.
"Despite reporting the incident to the school and police, accountability remains uncertain."
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