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letter from victim's parents to Mitchell:
(posted by caz16 on HFBruins board)
Dear Mitchell,
We have been silent as it pertains to you and your family directly. We have been approached by many media entities over the past year or so asking us to give our side of the story. This is something that is very tough for us to deal with as it brings up all the hurt and disgust for what you had done to our son dating back to 1st and 2nd grade. Like when you used to play “Keep the Ball away from Brownie” at recess. Isaiah coming home and asking what a N---er was since you were calling him that. The antics you carried out back then could be dismissed as childish pranks by an unknowing youngster with poor moral upbringing. We pulled Isaiah out of your reach until 6th grade when you walked back into his life. Do you remember having Isaiah sit next to you on the bus, while having your bully accomplice sit behind him, smacking him on the head and punching him from behind? It was reported and nothing done. Do you remember telling him, on one of those occasions, that his BLACK family didn’t love him and that’s why he has a WHITE family? Do you remember spitting in his face and calling him an N word waiting for the bus at school? It was reported and nothing done. Do you remember throwing a snowball in his face and again calling him the N word while waiting for the bus at school? It was reported and nothing was done. You created an environment, because of your “HOCKEY” status, where kids had to do things in order to hang out with you. Isaiah was told, by you, to say before all his peers that he was “your N---a” in order to sit at the lunch table with you, otherwise, he had to sit alone. That was confirmed by other kids in the area. Always belittling him. Knowing he was an easy target because he cognitively was so far behind because of him being born alcohol and drug exposed and having FAS. You knew how much he wanted to “fit in” and have friends so you pried on him.
You picked him up and then slammed him on his back in the snow on the way to Speedway before a basketball game. Again, confirmed by others at the scene. We were notified by the school that in the 8th grade Isaiah began showing up to his 1st period class very agitated and disturbed, only to find out about your morning fight club in the boys bathroom. This is where you, again, used your HOCKEY status to get kids to grab Isaiah as he was heading to his locker and pull him into the bathroom where students would begin fighting with Isaiah as you and your friends Snapchated its entirety so you could play it back and laugh at the abuse YOU were inflicting on him daily. CONFIRMED!! Your parents had been called into the office on a few of these occasions and rather than force you to be held accountable for the things you were doing. They doubled down with you. Stating to the so-called disciplinarians “Do you know how good of a HOCKEY player Mitchell is? Something as stupid as this could RUIN his career!!” “Where is your proof? It’s their word against ours, and Mitchell would never do something like that!!” Those statements are in quotes because those are the exact statements YOUR mom made to us after she found out about YOUR push-pop inconvenience!! That led to criminal charges and a guilty plea on your part because there was a video that we still have and I’m sure many would like to see it so they can decide if it’s just a boy being a boy. You HAD to plead guilty. Your mom referred to it as kids being kids. You were 14 years old and knew what you were doing was wrong. It was so bad that 2 girls went to the principal because they were sick of watching you beat Isaiah up EVERY day and couldn’t watch it any longer. Most responsible parents would have had you come over and apologize and make amends not call my wife to say “Do you know he ran it under water after rubbing it in the urinal before he gave it to Isaiah?” As if somehow that made it less significant. Do you know how humiliating it was for Isaiah to have to get HIV and STD testing because of what you did to him? All of this has been corroborated in the police report as well as the principal telling Isaiah to stay away from you because you weren’t his friend.
In the time since the incident, you claim to have written an apology to us. That apology was court mandated and it was turned into the court, never to us. You claimed to not be able talk to Isaiah because of the court’s restraining order, yet two years later your family tried to get you reinstated back at the same school Isaiah was attending, which would have broke your distance regulations. After that fell through you went to a football game and when you saw Isaiah walking with some friends, you approached Isaiah standing right in his face while talking to the kids he was with. A perfect chance for you to say to Isaiah “Hey I’m really sorry for what I did to you in Junior high. I really hope you can forgive me!!” But you didn’t instead you taunted him until someone from the school came down and sent you on your way. I have seen your parents on a couple of occasions in the community. The perfect chance for them to approach me or my wife and express how deeply sorry they are for what their exceptional HOCKEY playing son did to Isaiah!! Instead they have stared at us with intimidation. They have also created a culture with a group of hockey families in this community, that somehow this is Isaiah’s fault!! That my wife and I are to blame for the issues you have experienced in YOUR life. Yet, you are not the victim here, our son is. You choose what you did over many years to our son. You made that choice! Are you aware of the American Idol 16-year-old young man, Caleb Kennedy, who got kicked off the show for taking a picture with a friend at the age of 12 who was dressed as a KKK. He was 2 years younger than your 14-year-old incident that you keep referring to as you were YOUNG. Because somehow saying you are 14 makes it less impactful. Caleb ONLY had ONE incident and he had consequences for a terrible choice. He was kicked off American Idol and he apologized not downplaying his age. He took ownership, something you still have not done.
You had a couple of years to decide that your HOCKEY career was taking off just as you had hoped and you should make amends with Isaiah before it bites you in the butt. However I’m sure you just thought hey I served my penance and my court case is sealed, that could never come back up and hurt me! I guess you are a cautionary tale that the internet doesn’t forget!! You and your parents at any time could have knocked on our door and humbled yourselves, but you didn’t. After all Isaiah deserved everything you gave him, right!! I mean we have screenshots from “your group” that say Isaiah isn’t a good kid, somehow justifying what you did to him. Posting videos of our son to somehow justify what you did to him. This isn’t remorse.
I’m very sorry that Joni and I decided to foster and adopt kids in SYLVANIA, OHIO! If we hadn’t done that to this community, they might be able to hang a sign on the way into town reading Welcome to Sylvania, Ohio - Home to Mitchell Miller of the NHL!! I would really like sit down with you and Shelly and John and apologize for the INCONVENIENCE my family and CHILD, who by the way is 19 now just like you, has caused you all. It must be devastating waking up everyday not knowing if you will be able to lace up your skates and play the game we love so much.
You see Mitchell you are crushed by the freeze of your HOCKEY career for something that you did as a youngster so long ago. The one-time incident as you reported countless times to all NHL teams and the reporters asking you about it, BUT never thought to send a letter or reach out to YOUR VICTIM who at that time was now 18 (no longer a restraining order). But as I have stated earlier it goes much deeper than the one time you finally got caught on TAPE and Shelly and John couldn’t sweep it under the rug for you. The Inconvenience you spoke about for Isaiah was constant reminders all through school and still to this day, the attacks, the counseling, the depression, the thoughts of suicide, the acts of aggression so that this didn’t happen to him again, the isolation and thoughts that your illusion was true and that it was somehow his fault. What you have done to Isaiah, he will live with for the rest of his life. Questioning his existence. Coach Noreen said his decision didn’t have to do with hockey? Really? He and their organization are part of the problem and not the solution. For the coach to make this statement “We also wanted to make sure that we had the infrastructure for Mitchell himself because as hard as anyone thinks it might be what Mitchell has gone through the last year - and probably what he’s going to go through this year - it is unlike what most young athletes will have to through in their lives.” I would have to agree with some of that because most athletes, actually MOST PEOPLE wouldn’t do what you have done. Your coach is making it out like you are a victim, when in all reality YOU DID THIS! Your coach also referred to it as an off-ice incident. Again, don’t call it what it is because we will minimize what it really is. Our son still has nightmares about the abuse at your hands. I guess inconvenience isn’t really applicable for what Isaiah has gone through now is it. At this point Mitchell, no community service at your best friend’s mom’s school, no diversity training, no feeding homeless people will change what you did! As the magistrate said back then, I don’t think you get it Mitchell. You are sorry for what is happening to you, not for what you did. This also was the consensus of many of the NHL teams, they didn’t see true remorse for your action. More like it was just a minor indiscretion. You just waited too long. Had you taken ownership years ago or even a year ago and your parents not demonized us to OUR community, I would gladly have patted you on the back for a job well done!! Can’t wait to see that sign as I drive into OUR community!! But it took your career crashing through the ice for you to realize that in your own words, “I was unable to reach out to them after the incident, but I think eventually I will definitely reach out and obviously say I’m sorry for all the inconvenience I caused when we were 14 with their family and the child.” When you read it all back and look at it from the other side it’s truly sickening, and the fact that you still can’t fathom the pain and damage you caused by your constant hazing and pranks saddens me deeply!! We will continue to pray that God will convict your heart and your family’s.
Prayers,
(posted by caz16 on HFBruins board)
Dear Mitchell,
We have been silent as it pertains to you and your family directly. We have been approached by many media entities over the past year or so asking us to give our side of the story. This is something that is very tough for us to deal with as it brings up all the hurt and disgust for what you had done to our son dating back to 1st and 2nd grade. Like when you used to play “Keep the Ball away from Brownie” at recess. Isaiah coming home and asking what a N---er was since you were calling him that. The antics you carried out back then could be dismissed as childish pranks by an unknowing youngster with poor moral upbringing. We pulled Isaiah out of your reach until 6th grade when you walked back into his life. Do you remember having Isaiah sit next to you on the bus, while having your bully accomplice sit behind him, smacking him on the head and punching him from behind? It was reported and nothing done. Do you remember telling him, on one of those occasions, that his BLACK family didn’t love him and that’s why he has a WHITE family? Do you remember spitting in his face and calling him an N word waiting for the bus at school? It was reported and nothing done. Do you remember throwing a snowball in his face and again calling him the N word while waiting for the bus at school? It was reported and nothing was done. You created an environment, because of your “HOCKEY” status, where kids had to do things in order to hang out with you. Isaiah was told, by you, to say before all his peers that he was “your N---a” in order to sit at the lunch table with you, otherwise, he had to sit alone. That was confirmed by other kids in the area. Always belittling him. Knowing he was an easy target because he cognitively was so far behind because of him being born alcohol and drug exposed and having FAS. You knew how much he wanted to “fit in” and have friends so you pried on him.
You picked him up and then slammed him on his back in the snow on the way to Speedway before a basketball game. Again, confirmed by others at the scene. We were notified by the school that in the 8th grade Isaiah began showing up to his 1st period class very agitated and disturbed, only to find out about your morning fight club in the boys bathroom. This is where you, again, used your HOCKEY status to get kids to grab Isaiah as he was heading to his locker and pull him into the bathroom where students would begin fighting with Isaiah as you and your friends Snapchated its entirety so you could play it back and laugh at the abuse YOU were inflicting on him daily. CONFIRMED!! Your parents had been called into the office on a few of these occasions and rather than force you to be held accountable for the things you were doing. They doubled down with you. Stating to the so-called disciplinarians “Do you know how good of a HOCKEY player Mitchell is? Something as stupid as this could RUIN his career!!” “Where is your proof? It’s their word against ours, and Mitchell would never do something like that!!” Those statements are in quotes because those are the exact statements YOUR mom made to us after she found out about YOUR push-pop inconvenience!! That led to criminal charges and a guilty plea on your part because there was a video that we still have and I’m sure many would like to see it so they can decide if it’s just a boy being a boy. You HAD to plead guilty. Your mom referred to it as kids being kids. You were 14 years old and knew what you were doing was wrong. It was so bad that 2 girls went to the principal because they were sick of watching you beat Isaiah up EVERY day and couldn’t watch it any longer. Most responsible parents would have had you come over and apologize and make amends not call my wife to say “Do you know he ran it under water after rubbing it in the urinal before he gave it to Isaiah?” As if somehow that made it less significant. Do you know how humiliating it was for Isaiah to have to get HIV and STD testing because of what you did to him? All of this has been corroborated in the police report as well as the principal telling Isaiah to stay away from you because you weren’t his friend.
In the time since the incident, you claim to have written an apology to us. That apology was court mandated and it was turned into the court, never to us. You claimed to not be able talk to Isaiah because of the court’s restraining order, yet two years later your family tried to get you reinstated back at the same school Isaiah was attending, which would have broke your distance regulations. After that fell through you went to a football game and when you saw Isaiah walking with some friends, you approached Isaiah standing right in his face while talking to the kids he was with. A perfect chance for you to say to Isaiah “Hey I’m really sorry for what I did to you in Junior high. I really hope you can forgive me!!” But you didn’t instead you taunted him until someone from the school came down and sent you on your way. I have seen your parents on a couple of occasions in the community. The perfect chance for them to approach me or my wife and express how deeply sorry they are for what their exceptional HOCKEY playing son did to Isaiah!! Instead they have stared at us with intimidation. They have also created a culture with a group of hockey families in this community, that somehow this is Isaiah’s fault!! That my wife and I are to blame for the issues you have experienced in YOUR life. Yet, you are not the victim here, our son is. You choose what you did over many years to our son. You made that choice! Are you aware of the American Idol 16-year-old young man, Caleb Kennedy, who got kicked off the show for taking a picture with a friend at the age of 12 who was dressed as a KKK. He was 2 years younger than your 14-year-old incident that you keep referring to as you were YOUNG. Because somehow saying you are 14 makes it less impactful. Caleb ONLY had ONE incident and he had consequences for a terrible choice. He was kicked off American Idol and he apologized not downplaying his age. He took ownership, something you still have not done.
You had a couple of years to decide that your HOCKEY career was taking off just as you had hoped and you should make amends with Isaiah before it bites you in the butt. However I’m sure you just thought hey I served my penance and my court case is sealed, that could never come back up and hurt me! I guess you are a cautionary tale that the internet doesn’t forget!! You and your parents at any time could have knocked on our door and humbled yourselves, but you didn’t. After all Isaiah deserved everything you gave him, right!! I mean we have screenshots from “your group” that say Isaiah isn’t a good kid, somehow justifying what you did to him. Posting videos of our son to somehow justify what you did to him. This isn’t remorse.
I’m very sorry that Joni and I decided to foster and adopt kids in SYLVANIA, OHIO! If we hadn’t done that to this community, they might be able to hang a sign on the way into town reading Welcome to Sylvania, Ohio - Home to Mitchell Miller of the NHL!! I would really like sit down with you and Shelly and John and apologize for the INCONVENIENCE my family and CHILD, who by the way is 19 now just like you, has caused you all. It must be devastating waking up everyday not knowing if you will be able to lace up your skates and play the game we love so much.
You see Mitchell you are crushed by the freeze of your HOCKEY career for something that you did as a youngster so long ago. The one-time incident as you reported countless times to all NHL teams and the reporters asking you about it, BUT never thought to send a letter or reach out to YOUR VICTIM who at that time was now 18 (no longer a restraining order). But as I have stated earlier it goes much deeper than the one time you finally got caught on TAPE and Shelly and John couldn’t sweep it under the rug for you. The Inconvenience you spoke about for Isaiah was constant reminders all through school and still to this day, the attacks, the counseling, the depression, the thoughts of suicide, the acts of aggression so that this didn’t happen to him again, the isolation and thoughts that your illusion was true and that it was somehow his fault. What you have done to Isaiah, he will live with for the rest of his life. Questioning his existence. Coach Noreen said his decision didn’t have to do with hockey? Really? He and their organization are part of the problem and not the solution. For the coach to make this statement “We also wanted to make sure that we had the infrastructure for Mitchell himself because as hard as anyone thinks it might be what Mitchell has gone through the last year - and probably what he’s going to go through this year - it is unlike what most young athletes will have to through in their lives.” I would have to agree with some of that because most athletes, actually MOST PEOPLE wouldn’t do what you have done. Your coach is making it out like you are a victim, when in all reality YOU DID THIS! Your coach also referred to it as an off-ice incident. Again, don’t call it what it is because we will minimize what it really is. Our son still has nightmares about the abuse at your hands. I guess inconvenience isn’t really applicable for what Isaiah has gone through now is it. At this point Mitchell, no community service at your best friend’s mom’s school, no diversity training, no feeding homeless people will change what you did! As the magistrate said back then, I don’t think you get it Mitchell. You are sorry for what is happening to you, not for what you did. This also was the consensus of many of the NHL teams, they didn’t see true remorse for your action. More like it was just a minor indiscretion. You just waited too long. Had you taken ownership years ago or even a year ago and your parents not demonized us to OUR community, I would gladly have patted you on the back for a job well done!! Can’t wait to see that sign as I drive into OUR community!! But it took your career crashing through the ice for you to realize that in your own words, “I was unable to reach out to them after the incident, but I think eventually I will definitely reach out and obviously say I’m sorry for all the inconvenience I caused when we were 14 with their family and the child.” When you read it all back and look at it from the other side it’s truly sickening, and the fact that you still can’t fathom the pain and damage you caused by your constant hazing and pranks saddens me deeply!! We will continue to pray that God will convict your heart and your family’s.
Prayers,
