A Jewish student was choked and strangled by a classmate in a December 2025 antisemitic attack at a Boulder, Colorado, middle school, and a federal civil rights complaint has just been filed alleging the district failed to adequately protect him, according to documents submitted to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The complaint, filed last week by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on behalf of the student and his family, alleges that Boulder Valley School District failed in its legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin and has been interpreted to cover antisemitic harassment in schools receiving federal funding. According to the filing, the student — identified only as Student A to protect his safety and privacy — was physically assaulted at Southern Hills Middle School by a peer who targeted him because he is Jewish. The complaint states: The harassment began with antisemitic remarks directed at Student A on the soccer field by classmates. As described further below, it escalated rapidly to include verbal slurs (including repeated use of the word “kike” directed at Student A), threats (including of gun violence), and Nazi salutes in 2024, and progressed to repeated physical assaults (including strangulation), antisemitic taunting in the lunch line, after school and in class (including organization of a game called “Jew touch tag” in PE, in which Jews are chased), and Holocaust-related mockery (including a student telling Student A in math class, “at least my grandma didn’t spend 8 years in hiding,” and asking Student A, “do you get scared when someone raises their hand?” and “do you get scared when someone counts to nine?”). The most violent incident occurred on December 15, 2025, when a classmate fashioned a Chromebook charging cord into a lasso, threw it around Student A’s neck without warning or provocation, and dragged Student A backward from a chair while calling Student A a “stupid kike” — conduct so severe it resulted in a police report. … That incident was followed by a February 26, 2026, incident in which a former friend of Student A threatened to bring his father’s gun to school to shoot people and then stated in Student A’s Spanish class that “Hitler should have killed all the Jews when he had the chance”; a March 2026 assault in which a fellow student punched and kicked Student A multiple times; and an April 2026 incident in which a fellow student approached Student A while Student A was playing basketball alone at recess and spat in Student A’s face. The ADL says the family notified school officials and district administrators each time they learned of incidents involving Student A, and they are prepared to provide email records corroborating those notifications. Particularly troubling, the complaint alleges, is that a teacher who was present during the assault told a Boulder Police Department detective that she did not report the attack to school administrators. That admission is contained in a police report attached to the federal filing. The district did conduct a bullying investigation, with a report dated December 15, 2025, and one student believed responsible received what was described as a week-long suspension — though the complainants say they are uncertain whether that student actually served the full suspension. A second police report related to a separate incident has also been requested by the complainants, but as of the filing date they had not yet received a copy from the Boulder Police Department. The complaint further cites the district’s own policies — including Boulder Valley School District policy governing student conduct — arguing that the school’s response fell short of its own stated standards, let alone federal civil rights requirements. The filing comes amid a national surge in reported antisemitic incidents, including in K-12 schools. Civil rights advocates say physical assaults targeting Jewish students remain underreported and under-disciplined, and that schools have a binding legal obligation to respond meaningfully when harassment rises to the level of a hostile environment.