Georgia college students sue over blocked protest against rebel flag

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

The students, joined by their mothers as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa Excessive School was stifled last fall.

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

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

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

Joining the students as plaintiffs are their mothers, Lekisha Turner and Jessica Murray. Murray claims she was pulled over by a police officer after selecting up the suspended children, and detained till school officials presented her with a letter threatening felony trespassing prices if she was found once more on college grounds.

Superintendent Glenn White on Tuesday said the district disputes the allegations however had been advised by attorneys to not get into specifics at this time. “The Floyd County college system seems to be forward to presenting the facts on this case in court,” White instructed The Related Press in a telephone interview.

Coosa Excessive close to Rome is in 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 students in grades 8-12 are Black, state enrollment figures present. About 58% are white, while 26% are Hispanic and the the rest are multiracial or another race.

The lawsuit accuses school officers of making “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 gaggle of students sought to protest the ability of their classmates to wear the Accomplice flag on campus, the principal threatened scholar Deserae Turner that she may very well be jailed for “instigating a riot,” the lawsuit says. The principal additionally introduced over the intercom that any student protesting or even possessing a flyer announcing the protest can be disciplined.

The lawsuit alleges that four Black plaintiffs who organized the protest had been suspended for 5 days, while nonblack pupil organizers weren't disciplined. Legal professionals additionally allege the preemptive shutdown of the protest and calls for that students not post on social media violated students’ First Modification rights. A fifth student who was not suspended has also sued.

The go well with says dress code guidelines permitting Accomplice flag apparel but not Black Lives Matter apparel are illegal viewpoint discrimination by a government company, which additionally violates the First Amendment. It says the district additionally has violated the students’ and oldsters’ proper to equal safety under the 14th Amendment, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Amongst different remedies, the plaintiffs demand that the college district be blocked from additional punishing the scholars due to their speech, take away prior punishments from school data and pay cash damages.

Among the many legal professionals bringing the go well with is Shannon Liss-Riordan, a lawyer seeking the Democratic nomination for attorney normal in Massachusetts.

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