A Kennesaw State University student filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, Sept. 5, accusing university and state officials of violating her civil rights last year after a dispute over her and four other cheerleaders’ decision to kneel in protest during the national anthem.
KSU Sophomore Tommia Dean said in the complaint that Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, and Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren tried to stop the cheerleaders’ protests last year by attempting to keep them off of the field during the national anthem.
The other defendants listed in the lawsuit are former KSU President Sam Olens and Senior Associate Athletic Directors Matt Griffin and Scott Whitlock.
The AJC reported last year that a series of text messages proved that Olens may have been pressured by Ehrhart and Warren to keep the cheerleaders off of the field during the national anthem before games. Olens later reversed his decision and the cheerleaders were let back onto the field.
Olens resigned his position at the university in February after the controversy.
“By prohibiting the cheerleaders, including Plaintiff Dean, from taking the field and kneeling during the national anthem, Defendant Olens, Whitlock and Griffin in conspiracy under the pretext of improving the fan experience and acting under color of state law, violated Plaintiff Dean’s clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable person and government official would have known,” the complaint states.
Dean has suffered from migraine headaches and emotional distress, and is suing for monetary damages for “the violation of her constitutional rights.”
The complaint also states that Ehrhart and Warren were “engaged in the conspiracy against Plaintiff [Dean] because of her race and because of she was protesting police brutality against African Americans.”
University Spokeswoman Tammy DeMel said the university is unable to comment on pending litigation.
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