Berkeley High School is currently investigating a student-owned Instagram account that shared racist, discriminatory images of BHS students.

According to the Daily Californian, the account first drew the attention of one senior, Uma Nagarajam-Swenson, who also serves as the Berkeley Unified School District's student director. Apparently the account, which was created back in July, was first named "i_hate_jews45," and it featured photos of actual BHS students overlaid with hateful imagery. It also had about 70 followers.

The account and its contents became public knowledge as one junior student at BHS, Berenabas Lukas, took screenshots of the photos and shared them on Monday night. As knowledge of the account's existence spread, its administrators deleted all the photos, and changed the account's name to "we_are_sorry7484339" before disappearing for good.

KRON 4 shared the e-mail that was sent to the parents of BHS students regarding the account. It reads, in part:

We also want to clearly communicate to all students and families that expressions of racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism, ableism and other forms of bullying and intolerance are not ever to be tolerated nor taken lightly as jokes. Such language and images are harmful and not welcome in any form, on any platform, that connects to our campus and our kids.

Thus far, the school board's response to the account has been fairly swift when it comes to online conflicts spreading into the real world. Laelah Jackson, another junior at BHS, told the Daily Cal that after Wednesday's BUSD board meeting where they discussed the account, a fight broke out between two students, one of whom was a creator of the account. Both students were served suspensions, but the board has yet to move on handing down punishment for the Instagram account itself.

Jackson commented on this discrepancy, saying, "Berkeley High’s administration team acted very quickly in their suspension towards a student defending himself from hate speech. It is evident that Berkeley High knows how to handle issues surrounding physical harm, but the lack in knowledge of what to do when it comes to emotional harm is baffling."

This case is far from isolated, too. Earlier this year, several Albany High School students were suspended (and one expelled) after "liking" the photos on another racist Instagram account. The East Bay Times said that this particular account "targeted 11 [Albany High] students, all but one of whom was a person of color, as well as the girl’s basketball team’s black coach. The images showed those pictured with nooses around their necks. There were also photos of apes side-by-side with the girls." Those students fired back with a lawsuit of their own, claiming that they were being disciplined for something that's not within the school's jurisdiction or purview.

Later, a U.S. District Court judge issued a restraining order against further punishment, saying that any punishment taken out against the students at that point would infringe on their First Amendment rights. Moreover, Judge Donato said that expulsion would constitute "irreparable harm" as several of the students who "liked" the photos were seniors entering into college. Following that, KQED reported that the parents of the students filed their own lawsuit against the school, accusing them of failing to provide adequate security for the students, as two were assaulted during a restorative justice event.

Given this mostly-established precedent, it's likely that if the BUSD's investigation does turn up some names, those students might not face significant punishment from the board. Still, some hold out hope, including BUSD school board president Ty Alper, who told the Daily Cal, "What gives me hope that we can and will address this, and provide the support our students need, is two things: We have incredible, resilient, brilliant, brave students, and we have compassionate, talented, caring and devoted classified staff, teachers and administrators."

Related: Horrible Racist Teenagers Are A Thing In The Bay Area