A Florida woman who was suspended from college after her fiancee posted a photo of themselves holding guns at the gun range has filed a lawsuit, claiming her Constitutional rights were violated.
Dia’Mon Dallas said she and her fiancee were at the gun range learning how to shoot from his cousin, who is a veteran, according to the lawsuit.
Her fiancee, Anfernee Royster, posted the photo of themselves holding guns with the caption: “She’s my Bonnie and I’m her Clyde,” which made the assistant principal at First Coast Technical College fear for her life.
“What I mean is like, we’re together forever,” Royster explained to local media about his comparison to the two legendary outlaws. “And I feel like the main thing was that we were getting stereotyped because of the color of our skin.”
The assistant principal, Donna Gary-Donovan, also said Dallas had a “mean look” on her face the photo, which further fueled her fear.
In fact, Dallas said she was not even allowed to return to the classroom to retrieve her crockpot after being informed of her suspension out of fear she might gun down her classmates as a final good-bye.
“Everything has just gone down the drain. I really was trying hard in school. I was making A’s,” said Dallas.
“I can’t get a job and I have a baby I have to support. I’ve been out of work long enough and I wanted to do this to be able to provide for my family. And now I can’t,” said Dallas.
The lawsuit states that another student saw the photo on Dallas’ Facebook page and reported her to the school, which led to the suspension.
But Dallas is arguing the photo on her Facebook page was nothing more than “purely off-campus Facebook communication with friends,” which had no connection to a “school-related activity” and therefore did not “interrupt the school environment, according to the lawsuit.
Dallas’s attorney is republican state representative Cory Byrd, who issued the following statement:
“Some people just don’t like guns. They feel threatened by firearms. But that’s why we have constitutional protections, to protect activities that other people might find uncomfortable or unpopular,” said lawyer and state Rep. Cord Byrd, R-Jacksonville Beach, who’s representing Dallas.
First Coast Technical College said it will not comment due to pending litigation.