A South Carolina 9th grader is suing her school, alleging a teacher tried to force her to say the Pledge of Allegiance

• A South Carolina 9th grader sued her school after a teacher forced her to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Marissa Barnwell, 15, was walking to class when a teacher pushed her into the wall, the lawsuit says.

A South Carolina high school freshman is suing her school and her teacher after she alleged her teacher pushed her against the wall and tried to force her to say the Pledge of Allegiance, according to court documents.

Marissa Barnwell, 15, was walking to class when the pledge of allegiance began playing on the school's intercom in November 2022, according to a lawsuit filed by her parents in the United States District Court District of South Carolina in February. Barnwell is an "African American honor roll student" and a standout in several extra-curricular activities at her school, the complaint says.

Barnell decided to continue walking to her class when a teacher, Nicole Livingston, demanded that she stop walking and "physically assaulted" her by pushing her onto the wall and "forcefully touching her in an unwanted way, without her consent, so that she would stop walking in recognition of the Pledge of Allegiance," the lawsuit says.

Barnwell at a press conference that she was "just in disbelief" when Livingston grabbed her, according to The State.

Livingston took Barnwell to the principal's office after the altercation in the hallway, which caused Barnwell to be "extremely upset and emotionally disturbed" as "she believed she was being punished for having done something wrong," the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, the Lexington School District and River Bluff High School policy requires all students to say the Pledge of Allegiance at around 8:40 am each school day, but the policy allows students who don't wish to participate the option to leave the classroom or express "nonparticipation in any form which does not materially infringe upon the rights of other persons or disrupt school activities."

While in the principal's office, principal Jacob Smith told Barnwell he would review the security footage of her interaction with Livingston, but he did not inform her that school policy allowed her to not participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, the lawsuit says.

The Lexington County School District One did not immediately return Insider's request for comment on Saturday. Livingston is still listed as a special education teacher on the high school's website.

The lawsuit demands a trial by jury and an unspecified amount of damages. Tyler Bailey, an attorney for Barnwell's family, did not return Insider's request for comment, but he told The State that "students in our schools should feel safe."

"They should not be feel threatened for exercising their constitutional rights," Bailey told The State.

Bailey said that Barnwell's family didn't hear from the school district or the school after the incident, which is why they decided to file a lawsuit.

"Nobody did anything," Bailey said. "This is why the federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed."