Georgia college students sue over blocked protest towards rebel flag

ATLANTA (AP) — Several Black students who were suspended for making an attempt to protest Accomplice flag shows at their faculty in Georgia have filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to their school district and its board members, accusing them of permitting an in depth sample of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white college students and lecturers towards African American college students.”

The students, joined by their moms as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa High Faculty was stifled final fall.

Now, in their lawsuit filed Tuesday towards the Floyd County college district and its board members, they allege an extensive pattern of racism, together with white college students reenacting the homicide of George Floyd and posting it on social media, and a scholar who carried what appeared to be a whip and told a Black student “we used to whip you.”

They also allege unfair punishment: Students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Accomplice flag apparel is acceptable under the varsity’s gown code, the lawsuit says.

The swimsuit faults administrators for “deliberate indifference to acts of racial animosity toward black students perpetrated by white students and academics; in addition to the school’s viewpoint discrimination in its gown code and the inconsistent administration of disciplinary policies to the detriment of Black students.”

Joining the scholars as plaintiffs are their moms, Lekisha Turner and Jessica Murray. Murray claims she was pulled over by a police officer after picking up the suspended youngsters, and detained till college officials introduced her with a letter threatening felony trespassing costs if she was found once more on school grounds.

Superintendent Glenn White on Tuesday mentioned the district disputes the allegations but had been advised by attorneys to not get into specifics presently. “The Floyd County college system appears to be like ahead to presenting the info on this example in courtroom,” White told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview.

Coosa High close to Rome is within the heart of northwest Georgia’s conservative 14th Congressional District, which despatched Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress. About 10% of the college’s more than 800 college students in grades 8-12 are Black, state enrollment figures show. About 58% are white, whereas 26% are Hispanic and the the rest are multiracial or another race.

The lawsuit accuses faculty officials of creating “an atmosphere the place sure viewpoints including white nationalism and white supremacy are permitted but speech of an ideologically totally different viewpoint is expressly prohibited.”

When a group of scholars sought to protest the flexibility of their classmates to wear the Confederate flag on campus, the principal threatened scholar Deserae Turner that she could be jailed for “instigating a riot,” the lawsuit says. The principal also introduced over the intercom that any scholar protesting or even possessing a flyer announcing the protest could be disciplined.

The lawsuit alleges that 4 Black plaintiffs who organized the protest were suspended for 5 days, while nonblack pupil organizers weren't disciplined. Attorneys additionally allege the preemptive shutdown of the protest and demands that students not publish on social media violated students’ First Amendment rights. A fifth pupil who was not suspended has additionally sued.

The suit says dress code rules allowing Accomplice flag attire but not Black Lives Matter attire are unlawful viewpoint discrimination by a authorities agency, which also violates the First Modification. It says the district also has violated the scholars’ and parents’ proper to equal protection below the 14th Amendment, in addition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Among different remedies, the plaintiffs demand that the college district be blocked from additional punishing the students due to their speech, take away prior punishments from faculty information and pay cash damages.

Among the many legal professionals bringing the suit is Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer in search of the Democratic nomination for legal professional general in Massachusetts.

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Comply with Jeff Amy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffamy.