Jay-Z’s Roc Nation stepped in this week to support a Florida sixth grader who was arrested after he declined to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance at school.
On Tuesday, Roc Nation announced that high profile attorney Alex Spiro was appointed to represent Jabari. In a statement, Spiro said Jabari deserves credit for standing up for his beliefs and should never have been arrested, adding that his free speech rights are protected by the First Amendment.
According to Bay News 9, the incident happened last month. Jabari reportedly said he did not stand because of the pledge’s history toward Black people. The report says that led to a verbal exchange with a substitute teacher, Ana, who reportedly asked why he stayed in the country if he felt that way. Jabari reportedly answered that his family was brought here. Ana reportedly replied that she came from Cuba and would find another place to live if she ever felt unwelcome.
Jabari was then arrested for being disruptive and accused of threatening the substitute with physical violence. After news of the arrest spread and Roc Nation’s social justice team got involved, the case was dropped. A response from the teacher was not included in the reporting at the time.
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