Schoolgirl admits lying about racist attack

‘We are so embarrassed, and we are so sorry,’ Amari Allen's aunt says

Amari Allen has recanted her accusation (Screenshot/YouTube/CBS 17)

A black schoolgirl has admitted to lying about a racist playground attack which attracted global attention.

Amari Allen has recanted her accusation that three white, male classmates seized her and cut off her dreadlocks in an assault at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, northern Virginia.

She also claimed the boys verbally insulted her hair, calling her “ugly” and telling her she “shouldn’t have been born".

“We can now confirm that the student who accused three of her classmates of assault has acknowledged that the allegations were false,” Stephen Danish, head of Immanuel Christian School, said in a statement.

The 12-year-old’s family has also apologised to the boys and the evangelical school where Karen Pence, wife of US vice president, Mike Pence, teaches art.

They also said sorry to the wider community.

“To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologise for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” the family said in a statement provided to The Washington Post. “To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school.

“To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologise for betraying your trust.”

Lakeisha Allen, Amari’s aunt, in a separate interview with CNN, said her niece fought verbally with the boys but had then “embellished” her story.

“We are so embarrassed, and we are so sorry,” she said.

Additional reporting by agencies