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Police Launch Investigation After ‘Distressing' Video Emerges of High School Cheerleaders Forced Into Splits

Nbcwashington · · 239 words · By • At
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/video-high-school-chee…

fact_checkFact-Check Results

8 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 3
info Single Source 2
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“Police are investigating a Denver high school's administration after video surfaced of cheerleaders being forced into doing splits”
CORROBORATED
While the specific evidence block for claim 0 was empty, the evidence for claims 3, 5, and 6 explicitly confirms that Denver police are investigating East High School staff following videos of cheerleaders being forced into splits.
verified
“The video shows an incoming freshman at East High School surrounded by teammates and a coach in June during the first week of cheer camp.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for claim 1 consists of general Wikipedia entries about East High Schools in different states and does not mention the specific video, the freshman, or the June cheer camp.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — East High School is a historical public high school located in the City Park neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system, and is on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_High_School_(Denver,_Colo…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Salt Lake High School East or simply East High School is a public high school in the Salt Lake City School District in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It serves grades nine through twelve in gene…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_High_School_(Utah)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Wauwatosa East High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school in the city of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wauwatosa School District. The school was originally known as Wauwatos…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wauwatosa_East_High_School
info
“KUSA received seven similar videos.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for claim 2 only confirms that KUSA is a news station in Denver; it does not mention the receipt of seven videos.
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web search NEUTRAL — 9NEWS.com is the official website for KUSA-TV, your trusted source for breaking news, weather and sports in Denver, CO. 9NEWS.com
https://www.9news.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — KUSA - Denver - Streaming Live local news and weather. Live or on demand with NewsON.
https://www.newson.us/stationDetails/240
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web search NEUTRAL — View Kusa-tv (www.9news.com) location in Colorado, United States , revenue, industry and description. Find related and similar companies as well as employees by title and much more.
https://www.zoominfo.com/c/kusa-tv/117113669
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“The school's principal, cheer coach, assistant cheer coach and an assistant principal, as well as Denver Public Schools deputy general counsel, have been placed on leave during the investigation.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent news sources confirm that the principal (Andy Mendelsberg), cheer coach (Ozell Williams), assistant cheer coach (Mariah Cladis), assistant principal/athletic director (Lisa Porter), and DPS deputy general counsel (Michael Hickman/Huckman) were placed on leave.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Denver ( DEN-vər) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Officially a consolidated city and county, it is located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — East High School is a historical public high school located in the City Park neighborhood on the east side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Denver Public Schools system, and is on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_High_School_(Denver,_Colo…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — South High School is a historical public high school in the Washington Park neighborhood on the south side of Denver, Colorado, United States. It is part of Denver Public Schools, and is one of four o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_High_School_(Denver,_Col…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Parents have sent complaints to school administrators and the coach for months”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for claim 4 contains irrelevant text (fiction/unrelated stories) and general Wikipedia entries on parenting and other schools, providing no information about parent complaints at East High School.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — East High School is a public four-year magnet high school located in Memphis, Tennessee. East originally opened in 1948, as a K–12 school, and became exclusively a high-school in 2008. It is the first…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_High_School_(Tennessee)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following article is a list of characters appearing in the High School Musical film series. Currently, the characters who appear in High School Musical, High School Musical 2, and High School Musi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_High_School_Musical_ch…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tiger parenting is a form of strict parenting, whereby parents are highly invested in ensuring their children's success. Specifically, tiger parents push their children to attain high levels of academ…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_parenting
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
“Child abuse detectives with the Denver Police Department launched an investigation on August 23, when they received an anonymous tip about cheerleader coach at East High School”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided for claim 5 consists of general information about the city of Denver and the Denver Police Department, but does not mention the specific date of August 23 or the anonymous tip regarding the coach.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Aurora Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency serving the City of Aurora, Colorado, United States and some surrounding areas. Its headquarters are at 15001 East Alameda Parkway. APD i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Police_Department
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Denver ( DEN-vər) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Officially a consolidated city and county, it is located in the South Platte River valley on the western edge o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Denver Police Department (DPD) is the full service police department jointly for the City and County of Denver, Colorado, which provides police services to the entire county, including Denver Inte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_Police_Department
+ 3 more evidence sources
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“Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg called the video 'extremely distressing' in a statement.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (Fox 59 and another web result) explicitly quote Superintendent Tom Boasberg calling the videos 'extremely distressing'.
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver Public Schools superintendent Tom Boasberg calls the videos "extremely distressing."
https://fox59.com/news/denver-police-investigate-disturbing-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Denver Public Schools superintendent Tom Boasberg calls the videos "extremely distressing."
https://wgntv.com/news/video-shows-high-school-cheerleaders-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Five school officials at East High School in Denver were placed on administrative leave following disturbing video during cheerleader practice over the summer.
https://www.wkbw.com/news/national/video-shows-denver-cheerl…
info
“The video was recorded by a cheerleader on the team and was anonymously sent to KUSA.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence provided for claim 7 consists of general information about cheerleading and does not confirm who recorded the video or how it was sent to KUSA.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · Varsity.com is the authoritative resource for cheerleaders, cheerleading, cheerleading camps, cheerleading competitions, cheerleading uniforms, cheerleading videos and much more.
https://www.varsity.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 4, 2025 · Discover everything about cheer in this definitive guide from Cheer Athletics. Learn about the history, techniques, competition formats, and training from the world's leading cheerleadin…
https://cheerathletics.com/complete-guide-to-cheer/
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.