Columbia Heights students walk-out over anti-Muslim Facebook post

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (KMSP) - Students at Columbia Heights High School walked out of class this week, angered over the school board's decision to keep a board member accused of making degrading comments about Muslims. Grant Nichols may be suffering metaphorical punches now, but nearly a year ago, he suffered real ones.

While he was campaigning for the school board, Nichols was the victim of an apparent attack. According to a report obtained by Fox 9, Nichols told investigators he saw 4 teenagers near his campaign sign and one was pulling it out of the ground. When he went to confront one of them, they started punching him. He ended up on the ground getting punches to his head, upper body, and torso.

That case was back in October 2014. The teens were arrested and those bruises have long healed, but it may take longer for the damage caused by the anti-Muslim Facebook post to heal. Nichols maintains someone else posted the comment from his account.

“It's not right, and it's tied to him, and he's tied to our school,” said Columbia Heights student Jade Luttrell. “We're our own family, and he doesn't have to be a part of it.”

One former neighbor said they always "believed his mouth would get him into trouble."