6th Grade Girl Fabricated Story That Three Boys Pinned Her Down, Cut Off Dreadlocks
She has recanted her story.
Google Maps It sounded like a hate crime perpetrated by middle schoolers against one of their classmates. A sixth-grade girl told her family that several boys at her private school taunted her, held her down and cut her dreadlocks. The family, the school and the local police began to investigate what was characterized as an assault. Then the girl told her family that she had made the story up. Amari Allen and her grandparents are now apologizing to the boys she falsely accused as well as their school community and the public. It's not clear why the young girl made up the story, but now the adults around her are doing their best to fix the problems the situation has caused.
Who is Amari Allen? Read on for all the details.
1. The original accusation
According to local TV reports, Allen is a sixth-grader at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Virginia. The straight-A student lives with her grandparents who noticed that her hair was shorter last week. When they asked her about it she said that two boys taunted her, held her down and cut her hair. "They said my hair was nappy and I was ugly," she told NBC4. The grandparents were distraught and took the information about the incident to the school administration.
2. The school launched an investigation
Once the family set the ball in motion, school principal Stephen Danish got to work identifying the boys involved and bringing the police into the matter, since such an attack qualifies as assault. In a statement last week, he said: "We take seriously the emotional and physical well-being of all our students, and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of bullying or abuse."
3. Recanting the accusations
Over the weekend, the girl recanted her story to her family. WUSA9, a CBS affiliate, reports that she told her grandparents that she cut her hair herself and the story was entirely false. In the wake of her confession, she has called reporters to tell them the truth and she and her grandparents met with the school to make amends.
Allen has recanted her story.
4. Apologies from her family
On Monday, the girls' grandparents, who are her legal guardians, released a statement apologizing to the accused students and the school population as a whole. “To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” the Washington Post reports. “To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school. To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust.”
“We understand there will be consequences and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them,” the statement continued. “We know that it will take time to heal, and we hope and pray that the boys, their families, the school and the broader community will be able to forgive us in time.”
5. Apologies from the school
The administration of the Immanuel Christian School also issued a statement apologizing to the students involved and correcting the record for the entire community. “We can now confirm that the student who accused three of her classmates of assault has acknowledged that the allegations were false. We’re grateful to the Fairfax County Police Department for their diligent work to investigate these allegations,” school principal Stephen Danish wrote. “While we are relieved to hear the truth and bring the events of the past few days to a close, we also feel tremendous pain for the victims and the hurt on both sides of this conflict. We recognize that we now enter what will be a long season of healing.”
"This ordeal has revealed that we as a school family are not immune from the effects of deep racial wounds in our society," the statement continued. "We view this incident as an opportunity to be part of a learning and healing process, and we will continue to support the students and families involved. To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused."
6. The NAACP commends the school
Civil rights groups paid attention to the incident when it appeared that it was a racially motivated incident. Even after the young girl admitted to lying, the Fairfax NAACP remained grateful to the school and the Fairfax Police for their handling of a sensitive situation. The group also cautioned observers not to let a single false allegation detract from the reality of racially motivated violent crime in America. “Too often in these rare instances of fabricated hate crimes, critics use a broad brush to claim racially motivated crimes are virtually non-existent,” the organization stated to the Washington Post. “This is demonstrably wrong. Data from numerous sources, including the Anti-Defamation League, the FBI and the Justice Department, shows bias motivated crimes are on the rise, year over year.”
The NAACP made a statement.
The school is not commenting on what will happen in the wake of the incident.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.