‘IN DISBELIEF’

Teacher Assaulted Student Who Refused to Say Pledge of Allegiance: Lawsuit

Marissa Barnwell, 15, says the teacher yelled at her and pushed her up against a wall for not pausing to recite the pledge.

The parents of a 15-year-old Black honor roll student at a South Carolina high school are suing after a teacher allegedly assaulted the student over the Pledge of Allegiance. Marissa Barnwell says she was walking in River Bluff High School’s hallway when the Pledge of Allegience came on over the intercom. Instead of pausing to recite the pledge, she says she quietly continued walking to her classroom. That’s when teacher Nicole Livingston, who is white, allegedly began yelling at her and pushed her up against a wall, leaving her “extremely upset and emotionally disturbed.” Barnwell says she was the only Black student in the hall at the time and was singled out because of her race. Barnwell’s parents have filed suit against Livingston, the school district, the superintendent, the school’s principal, and the state Department of Education, saying her constitutional rights were violated.