A black Virginia teenager was handcuffed at school and charged with stealing a milk carton from the cafeteria – and then suspended after he objected to the accusations. Ryan Turk is signed up for the free lunch program at Graham Park Middle School, so he wasn’t even required to pay for the milk, reported WJLA-TV. The student forgot to grab the milk after going through the lunch line May 10, and a Prince William County police officer accused him of stealing after he went back and took a carton.

After suspending Turk, school officials issued a statement regarding the incident, stating that “Ryan Turk is being punished for attempting to acquire something that was not intended for him,” adding that “the incident could have been avoided if the student had followed protocol and not attempted to steal milk intended for white students.” “The school has very strict rules when it comes to the students’ food, and no exceptions are tolerated,” the statement also reads.

“I just wanted to see how it felt to be white for the first time in my life,” Turk told media outlets following his arrest. “And I didn’t steal anything, I politely walked into the line, had a chat with some of the guys there, took a carton of milk to the surprise of the lunch lady, and slowly went on my way. I didn’t try to hide the milk at all. And everybody’s always saying that it’s much easier and better to be white in America, so I just wanted to find out if that was true. And I don’t know, grabbing white people’s milk seemed like the logical place to start.”

School officials told WJLA-TV that “very strict policies are in effect at the Graham Park Middle School,” due to the fact that “we are attempting to cater to the different biological predispositions of the many students who attend classes here. Some might call it racist, but we believe that because of the racial differences, different students need different nutrients on a daily basis. That’s why we offer different types of milk for white students, black students, Asian students and several other groups. The biggest difference is white students need extra vitamin D because of their tan, whereas black students have no need for that. That is just one example.”

“Even though we did not create the biological requirements for each type of children we have here, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our absolute best in nurturing them separately. Therefore, we have implemented policies regarding food groups and nutritional requirements based on the genetic characteristics of each race. So far we have not seen any side effects, and we have reason to believe such practice will continue indefinitely. That essentially means we are right, and when we prove that, we will become a model for many schools in the country. That is what we are ultimately hoping for,” school officials concluded.