DALLAS (AP) — School officials in Dallas say they're investigating why a high school valedictorian had her graduation speech interrupted after she said the names of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice.
Conrad High School valedictorian Rooha Haghar told KXAS-TV that a school administrator ordered her mic to be shut off during her speech Saturday. Haghar says she was previously told that her speech shouldn't be political.
Officers in Cleveland fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir in 2014. A neighborhood watch volunteer shot 17-year-old Martin in 2012. Both were black.
Haghar says she mentioned them because their deaths are "a reality that black families have to deal with." She posted video of the speech on Twitter.
The Dallas Independent School District issued a statement saying it encourages "student voices and we are looking into this matter."
my valedictorian speech was cut short because i said the names of black children who had become victims of police brutality. our principal signaled for my mic to be turned off as soon as i said “trayvon martin and tamir rice” and played it off as a technical difficulty. pathetic. pic.twitter.com/9upW3dZ7Mg
— روحا (@ItsRoohaHaghar) June 3, 2019
