The 17-year-old student athlete, Austin Metcalf, who was fatally stabbed at a track meet in April was invoked in the Oval Office as President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to strengthen school discipline policies by reversing Obama-era guidelines that instructed schools to relax some disciplinary measures for students of color.

“We have three students that should be here with us today,” North Carolina educator, Annette Albright, said during the signing ceremony. “Austin Metcalf, Serenity Baker, and Nahzir Taylor from Charlotte, North Carolina, who was shot in the back.” 

Ms. Albright, a victim of student violence herself, was assaulted and seriously injured in 2016 while trying to break up a student brawl at the Charlotte high school where she worked. “It’s been an eight year journey for me to raise awareness to the violence that’s in public schools,” she said on Wednesday. “I’ve been doing it for eight years because most administrations like to keep the violence hidden.” 

The order, titled “Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies,” seeks to rein in an Obama-era initiative that instructed schools to refrain from “discriminatory discipline” of students of color. The Obama Administration “Dear Colleague” letter, which Mr. Trump rescinded on Wednesday, claimed that black students face suspensions and other disciplinary actions at higher rates than their white peers in part because of racial discrimination, not the students’ conduct. 

“The letter effectively required schools to discriminate on the basis of race by imposing discipline based on racial characteristics, rather than on objective behavior alone,” Mr. Trump’s new executive order charges. 

Metcalf, who is white, was stabbed and killed by fellow student athlete, Karmelo Anthony, who is black, at a track meet. The racial dynamics of the incident have shot the case into the spotlight and pitted the families of the accused and the victim against each other. 

Mr. Anthony was charged on April 2 with murder over Metcalf’s death, though he claims that he acted in self-defense and has pleaded not guilty. The deadly incident occurred when Metcalf, a student at Frisco Memorial High School, asked Mr. Anthony, a student of Centennial High School, to move from his seat under the Memorial High School tent.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses testified that Mr. Anthony then reached into his backpack and warned, “touch me and see what happens.” As Metcalf went to grab Mr. Anthony to move him, Mr. Anthony allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Metcalf’s twin, Hunter, said he tried to save his bleeding brother before he succumbed to his injuries in his arms.

Legal experts, however, are dubious that Mr. Anthony’s self defense claim will hold up in court. “If the evidence is what it is right now, I think he’s going to have an uphill battle claiming self-defense,” a New York attorney, Julie Rendelman, who is not involved in the case, told Fox News. “But we may learn much, much more that changes that perspective. And that could be for a jury or a grand jury to decide.”

Ms. Rendelman, who has practiced law for more than 30 years, is a former homicide prosecutor and served as the deputy homicide bureau chief in Kings County, Brooklyn. She said that given the current scenario — in which Mr. Anthony stabbed Metcalf after the victim merely touched him — “I don’t believe that a self-defense claim will work.” 

Mr. Anthony was released from jail on bond last week after his bond was reduced to $250,000 to $1 million. His homecoming was met with fierce criticism by victims’ rights advocates as well as conservative commentators who claim the case would be handled very differently by law enforcement and the media if the races of the two teens were reversed. 

That includes Ms. Albright herself, who, in a post on X declared that it was time to “change the narrative.” Ms. Albright, who is black, lamented that when “A Black kid kills a White kid” the public responds by justifying that he was “raised in a fatherless home, a lack of opportunities, racism, poverty, oppression, and slavery.” She contrasts that to when “A White kid kills a Black kid,” and he is branded a “RACIST!!” 

Over the weekend, the 17-year-old suspect — who has been confined to his home as part of his bail agreement — received approval from the courts to move to an undisclosed location to “ensure his immediate safety” in light of mounting threats directed to him and his family. 

Next Generation Action Network, which is assisting the Anthony family, said that they have been targeted by false food deliveries, intimidation, and disturbing mailings, including Austin Metcalf’s obituary. Last week, Mr. Anthony’s parents organized a press conference to dispel a “wave of falsehoods” about their accused son and detail the harassment and racist attacks they have endured in the weeks since his arrest. 

At the same time, Mr. Anthony has also received an outpour of support from the public. A GiveSendGo campaign set up by his family quickly amassed more than $510,000, and is still taking donations. A GoFundMe for the family of Austin Metcalf, on the other hand, has raised more than $528,000, recently slightly outpacing the fundraiser for Mr. Anthony.