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California Mom Claims Race Played A Factor After Her 7-Year-Old Son Was Questioned By Authorities After White Classmate Accused Him of Bringing Gun to School: ‘I’m Insulted. I’m Offended’

A California mother says race was a factor when her 7-year-old son’s elementary school called the sheriff’s department after a white classmate who’d reportedly been bullying the child falsely accused him of having a gun in his backpack. Thea-Marie Perkins is outraged that six deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department questioning her son Soloman without her consent at Tesoro del Valle Elementary School on Feb. 13.

Perkins told KTLA that a white peer lied when they said her son had a gun in his backpack. She said he wasn’t “packing” and instead had his backpack filled to the brim with Valentine’s Day cards for his classmates. The mother took to Twitter to express her thoughts on the incident, “What would you do? A 7yr old child falsely accused of felony possession of a weapon by another child. Admin checks the child’s backpack and sees over 20 valentines love cards to his class, the principal still proceeds to call the sheriffs department, not 1 but 6 sheriffs…”

What would you do? A 7yr old child falsely accused of felony possession of a weapon by another child. Admin checks the child’s backpack and sees over 20 valentines love cards to his class, the principal still proceeds to call the sheriffs department, not 1 but 6 sheriffs… pic.twitter.com/9m3ZrrTgDq — Thea-Marie Perkins (@ShakespeareABCs) February 18, 2020

Perkins said the incident started when her son and his classmates were led outside during a fire drill. Then her son reportedly began chatting with the boy who ran off and told a teacher Soloman had a gun in his backpack. However, as of now, it’s not clear if Soloman was even carrying his backpack at the time. Perkins alleges the student has been bullying her son, who has special learning needs that require individualized attention. Once the student told the teacher, the school’s principal was called over and Soloman’s backpack was searched. During the search, several Valentine’s Day cards were discovered. Perkins did say her son admitted to having a Nerf slingshot but there was no actual weapon was recovered.

“My son said that he had a Nerf slingshot,” Perkins said. “My child is not allowed to play with weapons, nor is he allowed to play with guns. They’re not anywhere in the house.” “My son said that he had a Nerf slingshot,” Perkins said. “My child is not allowed to play with weapons, nor is he allowed to play with guns. They’re not anywhere in the house.”

However, the principal still called the sheriff’s department who questioned Soloman without his mother present. Perkins said she wasn’t notified of the incident until later on when she got a call from a staff member that her son was being held.

“They had already violated my civil rights. They violated my son’s civil rights. They sequestered him. They questioned him without me,” she said. A part of Soloman’s education plan, a paraprofessional is supposed to be at his side while in class, according to Perkins. However, she said the parapro was talking to the teacher when the incident took place.

Perkins said the school is predominately white and she feels the way her son was treated was because he was accused by a white student.

“I’m insulted. I’m offended. I’ve been disrespected. My civil rights have been violated,” Perkins said. “I can’t tolerate this. It has to stop.”

The school sent out a letter about what occurred saying: “As many of you may be aware we have had law enforcement on campus today. All of our students are safe and the school day is progressing as normal.”

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