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Video of Dixon High School student being grabbed from behind and shoved to the ground goes viral

The video shows a student running up to another from behind and pulling them to the ground

DIXON, Ill. — A video that has now gone viral shows a 15-year-old student at Dixon High School being grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. That 15-year-old is Kayden Certer. He says he didn’t see the attack coming, and there was nothing leading up to it that made him think it would happen.

Watching the video you can seen Kayden walking in a blue t-shirt and jeans. A different student in a gray hoodie walks behind him when he suddenly starts running and grabs Kayden around the neck, shoving him into the lockers and onto the ground, where he continues to punch him. 

Kayden saying, “I turned around one time and I noticed he was behind me. He was getting faster and then out of nowhere I turned around again and he just starts running at me.”

Kayden shared with News 8 he just remembers the student being pulled off of him saying, “He was pulled away and I was sitting there looking for my glasses for a while and finally an officer came up and asked me if I was okay and took me to the nurses office, and then I went home after that.”

Kayden’s mom, Megin Steeb, says she received a call at work after the incident happened. “I was sitting at work and I got a phone call from the principal just stating that he had been attacked. He said that he was grabbed from behind by the neck and hit a few times and I can press charges if I like.”

The family decided that’s exactly what they were going to do. Only Steeb says it’s not what happened at first. She says the police department initially told her the student who beat up her son would be receiving a citation and a ticket. “He was going to be given a citation, which is like a ticket for battery and a fine, 400 dollar fine.”

Steeb says after she hung up the phone with the police officer, she realized this wasn’t enough of a punishment. It was then that she decided to share the video online. She says she hoped to get justice for Kayden and draw more attention to the attack.

“He was up to like 8000 views super-fast and then the police reached out to me after and now they’re saying oh we’re taking it to the states attorney. Now we’re going to have states charges. It took me to have to do this though. That's what angers me.”

Kayden says he believes the attack happened because he identifies as gay. His mom saying, “No kid deserves that, especially because of who they are. That’s who he is. You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to accept it, but you shouldn’t beat them up because of their lifestyle.”

News 8 reached out to Dixon High School for a statement on the incident. They said, “DPS #170 is deeply disturbed and saddened by the incident that occurred on school property yesterday. School and District administration along with law enforcement, upon becoming aware of the incident, took appropriate steps to initiate an active investigation of the incident as expressly provided by Board Policy.”

The police department shared they have closed the investigation and passed it onto the state’s attorney. The state’s attorney, Charles Boonstra, shared with News 8 he has received the file, but not yet reviewed it.

Steeb says she is unaware what the charges will be saying, “They don't know if it’s going to be a felony charge or a misdemeanor. That's all I know.”

Kayden says he hopes to pull one good thing away from this event, saying he hopes it just teaches people not to bully others.

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