LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Cyberbullying and the attempt to hold the Clark County School District accountable. A former CCSD high school student believes the school district didn't do enough to help him and is now taking legal action.
"It was just so disturbing how graphic and how detailed everything was."
Min Woo Cho is still upset as he reads through an Instagram chat thread. Three of his classmates at West Career and Technical Academy described how they would murder him.
"It was just a traumatic experience reading the messages one by one."
Cho, now a freshman at UNLV says the thread was made in August of 2019 when he was a junior at the magnet high school. It begins with his classmates making fun of Cho, before changing to violent threats. There are messages saying they would stab him 28 times and using language like "his fate is sealed" and "unshackle your hate." The thread continues with how they would dump his body in the desert.
"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this in a movie,” he said.
Cho was somehow added to the chat group where he was shocked to find the thread. Fearing for his life, he says he went to school administrators. A safety plan was hatched, but Cho felt it was too vague and he felt the school's actions were insufficient. He says he was told....
"They're just joking."
But it was no joke to Cho, deciding to take legal action. He filed a restraining order against the three offenders and won. But at school....
"They were perfectly fine being back on campus with me. That…I just felt wasn't enough,” he said.
He then hired a law firm and sued the parents and CCSD for negligence.
"My safety wasn't in good hands in the school district's hands. I expect when I go to school that I'm fully secure."
We did reach out to CCSD and the district told us it does not comment on pending litigation.
The parents settled with Cho leaving CCSD the last defendant. Cho says he hopes his legal push will give a voice to other cyberbullying victims.
"If you are going through something similar to this…or experienced cyberbullying…you're able to get the justice that you need,” he said.
Attorney Patrick Kang says Cho's case against CCSD is now set for trial, with the start date is pending.
