S.C. teacher accused of assault on Black honor student who didn’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance

The family of a 15-year-old South Carolina honor roll student who alleges she was assaulted for not reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is taking legal action, The State reports.

Marissa Barnwell, a Black student at predominantly white River Bluff High School, alleges she was in a hallway headed on her way to class when she heard the pledge playing over the school’s intercom, the report said.

“Barnwell allegedly refrained, in a ‘non-disruptive manner,’ to acknowledge the pledge as she walked into her classroom,” the report said, citing the lawsuit.

Livingston proceeded to bring Barnwell to the principal’s office for disciplinary action, the report said.

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Red Bluff High School Principal Jacob Smith told Barnwell that he would review video footage of the incident before sending her back to class, according to the report.

The lawsuit, filed Feb. 13, alleges Barnwell’s teacher, Nicole Livingston, pushed Barnwell against a wall after demanding that she acknowledge the Pledge, the report said.

Lexington School District One, Superintendent Gerrita Postlewait Smith, and Livingston are named in the lawsuit, according to the report.

The lawsuit said the incident left Barnwell “extremely upset and emotionally disturbed,” the report said.

“I was completely and utterly disrespected,” Barnwell told reporters at a Thursday news conference.

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“No one has apologized, no one has acknowledged my hurt. ... The fact that the school is defending that kind of behavior is unimaginable.”

Barnwell believes she was targeted because of her race, according to the report.

More than 73 percent of River Bluff’s student population is white, the report said, citing U.S. News and World Report.

The lawsuit alleges that the Barnwell’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated, noting that the government can’t require people to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

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