KALAMAZOO, MI — Kalamazoo community members held a rally Tuesday, Sept. 30, to support a Kalamazoo Central Football JV player who received disciplinary action after injuring a Stevensville Lakeshore football player.
More than a dozen people showed up Tuesday at the Kalamazoo Public Schools administration building for the rally.
The Lakeshore player, Colton Mims, 15, suffered a spinal fracture in two places after the Kalamazoo Central player, also 15, jumped on Mims after a play on Sept. 18.
Since the game, the Kalamazoo Central player and his father have received an onslaught of hate and death threats, said Andrea Hubbard-Hill, a longtime family friend.
“I have people that I have seen from Texas, from different states, that are giving death threats to a 15-year-old kid,” Hubbard-Hill said.
The player’s father, Melrose Hensley, spoke at a Kalamazoo Public Schools board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 25, pleading for compassion.
Hensley said at the meeting he’s had to go on medication for anxiety and the backlash has been so strong, his son can’t use his phone.
Hensley also said he reached out to the Mims family to apologize.
Antwan Nix helped organize the rally and launch a fundraiser to support the Kalamazoo Central student.
“My biggest thing is getting him therapy, getting him somebody to talk to and making sure that he understands that even though he made a mistake, he’s not disposable,” Nix said.
Nix said he was immediately concerned about the wellbeing of Mims and reached out to the Mims family. But as the video of the play received more attention, he was concerned about the response.
KPS Superintendent Darrin Slade said the district has received more than 80 messages about the incident.
“This boy has had thousands of grown people say they want him to die. Do you not think that he needs any kind of help?” Nix said.
Nix said he doesn’t have children who attend KPS, but wanted to support the student and his family.
“Even though that’s not my child, being a Black man, I want to stand up for Black children, because in a lot of instances, Black children are not advocated for in the same kind of way,” Nix said.
A KPS spokesperson declined to comment on what punishment the player received because of privacy matters.
“This is a kid that made a stupid mistake,” Hubbard-Hill said. “He’s seen this play being made by other football players on TikTok and just out the blue thought, ‘Hey, this is a good idea.’ Well, it wasn’t and I’m so glad that the other student wasn’t hurt worse than what he was.”
Hensley and his son walked out of a meeting inside the district administration building at the end of Tuesday’s rally. Hensley gave a thumbs-up to the crowd and said, “Education restored!”
A lawyer representing the family declined to comment on the situation at the time.
“Take him out of football, totally understandable. But to end this child’s education at Kalamazoo Central and jeopardize his Promise (scholarship)? You know that Promise is there to further the children’s education so they can go on and be a productive citizen,” Hubbard-Hill said.
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