Riddle me this: if hate crimes because racism are so common, why do people keep making up hate crimes? Now a 12-year-old girl, Amari Allen, whose grandparents are sending her to a private school where Mrs. Pence happens to work, has admitted when she said last week that "three white boys attacked me, called me ugly, and cut my hair" was all a bunch of hokey pokey. Her grandparents, who are her legal guardians, issued a statement. From The Washington Post:

“To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused,” the grandparents wrote in a statement sent to The Washington Post by the school. “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 apologize for betraying your trust.”

So first, kudos to the grandparents for doing this right by apologizing to absolutely everyone their granddaughter tried to royally screw over. Okay? Okay. But this whole ordeal is why you WAIT FOR THE FACTS before running with narratives about how terrible white boys are. Watch the original video of the reporting below and tell me if you're not shaking your head in smugness.

My favorite part was at the end of the interview of our little liar, where the local news anchors are like "I am just devastated by this story! I am so saddened! This makes me so angry!!!"

And the anchors went on, and on, and on about how little girls should be protected from nasty little boys. How bullying and racism is super wrong, and oh my god, how sad a little girl like this can't speak out against her tormenters. So emotional!

In fact, the anchors spent more time talking about how tragic this whole story was than the interview with Amari Allen herself.

....annnnnnnd it was all a giant crap sandwich.

Related stories that are also fake hate crimes: Independent Journalist Investigates Hate Crimes in Portland, Finds Many Are Faked and Transgender Activist Arrested for Faking Arsonist Hate Crime.

Are some kids bullies? Yes. Are kids tormented by bullies? Also yes. Are there real racist sexists out there? Sure. Should we still maybe keep bullying affairs to schools and parents to deal with privately instead of making viral videos and national ordeals from them? Yes. Should we maybe not make giant conclusions out of stories until we know all the facts? Yes.

Will anyone learn from this story and wait for the facts next time? No.

So let's enter Amari Allen into the Fake Hate Crime hall of fame. The list is growing and promises to continue growing as Amari's dreadlocks undoubtedly will, even if she chops them all by herself.

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