Demaurea Moore

A Virginia sixth grader claimed her white male classmates held her down and cut off her dreads. She is now saying she made the story up.

Amari Allen, an African American 12 year old, attends Immanuel Christian School in Springfield. It’s a private school where the vice president’s wife, Karen Pence, teaches art part time. She told several social media outlets that three boys in her class held her down and cut off her hair. “They said my hair was nappy and I was ugly,” she told WRC-TV. “They put their hands over my mouth. They put my hands behind my back. And they started cutting my hair and saying it was ugly.”

When Amari’s grandmother was doing her hair one day and realized portions of her dreads were missing, that was when the girl told the story. “It was like she just died. That’s how painful it was for me,” Amari’s grandmother said, after the allegations was made. Her grandfather said his heart broke and that he “was just paralyzed.”

Amari, center.

Later, her family released a statement saying the accusations were false. Allen and her family met with school officials earlier that day before releasing a statement and apologized to the wrongly accused boys. “To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” the family said in a statement released by the school. “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 was aware of the consequences and was prepared to take responsibility. Immanuel Head of School stated that this incident will be known as an opportunity to be part of a learning and healing process and that they will continue to support the students and families involved.