Jay-Z's Roc Nation Got An Arrested 6th Grader Acquitted Of All Charges, And The Internet Is Rejoicing In Tears
Jay-Z and Roc Nation are continuing their quest to combat social injustice with the assistance of its Team Roc division.
A branch dedicated to philanthrophic efforts, Team Roc recently helped an 11-year-old boy get criminal charges stemming from a Pledge of Allegiance protest dismissed.
In case you missed it, Jabari Talbot, a sixth-grade student at Lakeland, Florida's Lawton Chiles Middle Academy, was charged with disrupting a school function and resisting arrest without violence after he refused to stand for the pledge on February 04.
According to Bay News 9, the 11-year-old reportedly told his substitute teacher that he refused to stand because "the flag was racist and the national anthem was offensive to Black people." After an exchange with his teacher, he was reportedly sent to the office because the teacher did "not want to continue dealing with him," reports the news site added.
A school resource officer arrested the student, accusing him of being disruptive and refusing to obey commands. Jabari Talbot was arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center. He also faced a three-day school suspension.
Team Roc recruited attorney Alex Spiro to oversee Jabari's case and the charges against the 11-year-old were dropped earlier this month. Spiro said, "Jabari is a courageous and intelligent young man who deserves all the credit for standing up for his beliefs. He should've never been arrested or entangled in this situation—his freedom of speech rights were clearly protected under the 1st Amendment," in a statement.
Once news of the acquittal hit social media, commenters couldn't help but celebrate the efforts made by Jay-Z and his Roc Nation team.
Check out what Twitter had to say below:
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