New York high school students accused in racist anti-Obama tweets

Two area high school students are drawing fire for racist tweets in the wake of President Obama’s reelection.

Ricky Catanzaro of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn and Lou LaDonna of West Islip High School on Long Island allegedly posted the tweets first reported by the website Jezebel.

The day that Obama won the hotly contested election to defeat his Republican rival Mitt Romney, Catanzaro, 16, allegedly tweeted, “No n—– should lead this country!!! #Romney.”

After Romney conceded, the Brooklyn teen responded with another vile post: “Only thing black people are good at is basketball #run #shot #steal.”

Catanzaro’s Twitter page, called Madhouse1245, featured a photo of the youth sitting in a garbage can and was taken down on Thursday.

Just before the Xaverian junior deleted the page he suggested someone hacked the account, tweeting, “Whoever is on my twitter stop making tweets.”

Catanzaro’s mother, Samantha Courtney, insisted that her son didn’t write the vile tweets. “We’re not racists — those are not our views,” Courtney said.

Xaverian officials didn’t respond to calls for comment, but a school administrator there told Jezebel that “they are aware of (the tweets) and they are dealing with it.”

LaDonna, of Suffolk County, a West Islip High School senior who plays on the school’s varsity football team, also allegedly posted hateful messages on his Twitter account.

“When in doubt kick the n—– out #Romney,” the Long Island teen tweeted at election time, according to Jezebel. Just after Obama won, LaDonna took to the Internet again, tweeting, “If your #black and did NOT vote for #Obama, clap your a–.”

The Suffolk teen’s father denied that his son wrote the racist tweets.

“I got no comment,” said Lou LaDonna Sr. “It’s freedom of speech. He can say whatever he wants . . . but he didn’t say it.”

If they posted the hateful messages, LaDonna’s and Catanzaro’s tweets may be protected by the First Amendment, said University of Virginia law Prof. Frederick Schauer.

“Many countries have hate speech laws, but there are none in the U.S.,” said Schauer.

However, American legal protections of free speech may not stop school authorities from punishing LaDonna for his tweets.

West Islip Principal Anthony Bridgeman told Jezebel that he was “very offended” by LaDonna’s alleged remarks and that he’s “taking the necessary steps to address it.”bchapman@nydailynews.com