*A 12-year-old Virginia girl made headlines last week when she and her family told reporters that three of her white male classmates at a private school pinned her down and cut her dreadlocks, calling her hair “ugly” and “nappy.”
As it turns out, she made up the entire story.
Amari Allen has recanted the accusation, her family said in a statement Monday. Stephen Danish, head of Immanuel Christian School, also confirmed the allegations were false following an investigation by the Fairfax County Police Department.
“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,” he said. “We recognize that we now enter what will be a long season of healing.”
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Sixth-grade boys pin down black classmate, cut her dreadlocks https://t.co/qFHKx6lzmr pic.twitter.com/T4nIL3DENU
— New York Post (@nypost) September 27, 2019
Last week, Allen told CBS affiliate WUSA-TV that the boys ambushed her during recess at the school in Fairfax, Virginia.
“They said my hair was nappy and I was ugly,” Allen told News4. She said one of the boys covered her mouth and another held her hands behind her back, while the third cut her dreadlocks with a pair of scissors.
“They kept laughing and calling me names,” Allen told WUSA9. “They called me ‘ugly,’ [and] said I shouldn’t have been born.”
When the bell rang, “they ran off laughing, and I was just sitting there,” she added.
Allen’s family has apologized to the boys and the school for “the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused.”
“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,” the family said. “We understand there will be consequences, and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them.”
They added, “To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust.”
Allen’s parents pay nearly $12,000 a year for her to attend the private school.
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