Complaint Says Missouri Student Racially Profiled in Arrest

A complaint filed with the Missouri Commission on Human rights alleges an eighth-grade student was racially profiled when she was arrested for fighting.

The Columbia Missourian reports a complaint filed Tuesday (May 7) against a principal, counselor, teacher, secretary and student at Smithton Middle School says the Jan. 10 fight between a white girl and a black girl was recorded on a cellphone by another student.

It alleges the counselor misidentified a student as one of the two girls in the fight without looking at the video. The girl was taken to a juvenile detention facility and held for more than 24 hours.

The complaint states that after the girl’s mother was able to prove her daughter’s innocence to authorities with the video.

A spokeswoman for Columbia Public Schools declined to comment.