Student 'lied' about Muslim seated during Pledge

School administrators in Florida say a student who reported confronting a Muslim student about not standing during the Pledge of Allegiance was making up at least part of the story.

Mark and Heather Lawrence

WND reported earlier when Hernando Today documented the report out of Springstead High in Spring Hill, Fla.

It said Heather Lawrence saw a fellow student refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and recite it with the class, and took the situation as a teachable moment, confronting the other student, who is Muslim.

The 16-year-old Junior ROTC member, the report said, was suspended from school for it.

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Now a report in the St. Petersburg Times said that wasn't all of the story.

School principal Susan Duval told the newspaper Lawrence had lied.

"I have confirmed with the homeroom teacher the young (Muslim) lady stood for the pledge," Duval said.

Lawrence had reported she was walking by another homeroom when she saw a girl with the traditional Muslim head scarf sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Times report said Lawrence said she told the other girl she should stand during the Pledge.

The report said a teacher witnessed the confrontation and as a result, Lawrence was suspended for five days, later reduced to three days.

Duval, however, contradicted the story, saying that Lawrence's teacher reported Lawrence had not left her own homeroom during the Pledge recitation.

Lawrence's father, Mark Lawrence, told the Times he stands by his daughter's account.

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"I think (school officials) are trying to do some damage control," he told the Times.

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