Amari Allen: Accusation that 3 boys cut girl’s dreadlocks is false

A 12-year-old Virginia girl who accused three white boys of cutting off her dreadlocks last week now says her story was false.

Amari Allen said last week that she was cornered on the playground, where one boy covered her mouth, another grabbed her arms, and a third cut off sections of her hair. She said they called her hair “nappy” and said she was “ugly,” NBC Washington reported at the time.

A different story emerged on Monday, when her family and the school, Immanuel Christian School, released statements saying that Amari’s story was false. Karen Pence, wife of Vice President Mike Pence, works at the Springfield, Virginia, school as a part-time art teacher.

“To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” Allen’s grandparents, who are her legal guardians, said in the statement to the Washington Post. “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.”

The statement continued: “We understand there will be consequences and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them. 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.”

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The school’s principal, Stephen Danish, updated the school’s community in an email Monday morning.

“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,” Danish wrote, according to the Post. “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.”