UPDATE. The attack has turned out to be a hoax.
Three white sixth-grade boys pinned down a black female classmate and cut off her dreadlocks at the Christian school in northern Virginia which recently made headlines because Karen Pence teaches there and it forbids LGBTQ students and parents.
WUSA reports: “Amari Allen said she has never been more traumatized in her life until Monday when she said a group of white male classmates attacked her on the playground at Immanuel Christian School, a private K-12 school, in Fairfax, Virginia. Amari tells WUSA9 that one boy covered her mouth and the second boy put her hands behind her back, while the third boy pulled out scissors and cut her medium-length dread locks while calling her names.”
Said Amari: “They kept laughing and calling me names. They called me ‘ugly,' said, ‘I shouldn't have been born.' They called me ‘an attention-seeker.'”
Amari said the same three students have bullied her for a long time and regularly take her school lunches. It's unclear what actions the school will take against the male students.
The school says it has a strict anti-bullying policy and released a statement: “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. We are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made, and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can. We have also reached out to law enforcement to ask them to conduct a thorough investigation, and further inquiries should be directed to the Fairfax County Police.”
Immanuel Christian was recently in the news because Second Lady Karen Pence teaches there, and its policy bans LGBT students and parents.
Immanuel has a “parent agreement” posted online stating their policy that bans LGBTQ students and parents from the school.
“I understand that the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission to an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student if the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of the student are counter to, or are in opposition to, the biblical lifestyle the school teaches,” it states.
‘This includes, but is not limited to contumacious behavior, divisive conduct, and participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity, promoting such practices, or being unable to support the moral principles of the school. (Lev. 20:13 and Romans 1:27.) I acknowledge the importance of a family culture based on biblical principles and embrace biblical family values such as a healthy marriage between one man and one woman. My role as spiritual mentor to my children will be taken seriously.”
Pence's office released a statement after her job at the school came under scrutiny: “It's absurd that her decision to teach art to children at a Christian school, and the school's religious beliefs, are under attack.”
Shortly thereafter, The Trevor Project sent 100 copies of John Oliver's gay bunny book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, to Immanuel Christian.
