A Muslim civil rights group is suing Fairfax County Public Schools for suspending several students after they created a “kidnapping” video for social media to promote their chapter of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) last fall.
The video was intended to depict a “playful overreaction” in response to a “specific, viral comedy skit circulating nationwide,” according to a filing submitted by the CAIR Legal Defense Fund today (June 4) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.
The lawsuit alleges that the school system suspended the Muslim students while allowing other student groups who performed similar skits to go unpunished, violating their rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments, as well as several federal civil rights statutes.
“These are student leaders, athletes, honor students, kids who volunteered, who gave back, who showed up for their communities without anyone asking,” the parents of the students said in a statement read aloud by CAIR staff at a press conference this morning. “Young people who walked into Thomas Jefferson every single morning, believing that if they worked hard enough, it would matter.
“They participated in a social media trend, the same trend that student groups across Fairfax County and across the country were doing. Other groups at the same school made similar videos. Some of these videos even showed weapons. Not one of those students were punished. Our children were treated differently.”
The students made the video for their MSA chapter’s Instagram account during their lunch period in the prayer room at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Lincolnia, according to the filing. One student was wearing a Palestine sweatshirt, another had on a crescent moon and star sweatshirt with a keffiyeh, and two were wearing hijabs
In the video, one of the students, identified in the complaint as plaintiff “Jane Doe,” asks two others if they plan to attend the Muslim Student Association meeting.
After the students said “no,” two of the plaintiffs — “Richard Roe” and “John Doe” — sneak up on them, putting one student in a large plastic bin and covering their body, while covering another’s head. Both are taken behind a room divider.
Afterwards, Jane Doe asks plaintiff “Colin Coe” and another MSA member if they plan to attend the meeting. “Yes, of course,” they say.
The video ends with text stating that “no one was harmed in the making of this video.”
Two days later, the video began circulating on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, with comments linking the skit to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. By the next day, the students were asked to come to the front office for an investigation. The lawsuit says that they showed school administrators that other FCPS student groups had produced similar promotional videos.
The next day, eight students were placed in detention. It took over a week for the plaintiffs to return to their regular routine, the lawsuit alleges.
In response to an inquiry from FFXnow, FCPS issued the following statement:
“FCPS remains committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of each and every student. We have not yet received a copy of the lawsuit. Once our attorneys can review it, we will respond as part of the legal process. All student disciplinary issues are handled individually in accordance with FCPS Student Rights and Responsibilities protocols.”
Throughout the fall, the school system faced public criticism for how it handled alleged incidents of antisemitism.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington issued a statement last October in response to the circulating MSA video saying that “making light of violence during a time of war is beyond the pale.”
In late November, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Workforce announced an investigation into how FCPS and two other districts handled antisemitism. A letter from Chairman Tim Walberg cited numerous concerns including “MSA chapters reenacting the October 7th kidnappings in a promotional video.” A citation for the statement linked to an article about the Thomas Jefferson group and a similar video by students at Langley High School in McLean.
