The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the city, the state Department of Education and the Honolulu Police Department over the January 2020 arrest of a then-10-year-old girl at Honowai Elementary School.

The lawsuit centers on a series of events in which the girl reportedly was accused of participating in the creation of a drawing featuring a gun and death threats above the names of students, police were called, and the girl was arrested. At the station, the girl was released to her mother, and no charges were filed.

The suit alleges false arrest, use of excessive force, discrimination on the bases of race and disability, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, and negligent training and supervision. Dated Jan. 7 of this year, the suit was filed on behalf of the girl, who is Black and is diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and her mother, Tamara Taylor, who is also Black.

Spokespersons for the police department and education department said on Wednesday that they would not be able to comment on pending litigation.

In November 2021, both agencies issued public responses saying there were inaccuracies and omissions in the ACLU’s account of the case, and denying any wrongdoing or bias in the conduct of their employees.

Girl often bullied

The suit brings to light for the first time many details and allegations about the case.

The ACLU says the girl was often bullied during her time at Honowai, including being targeted with a racial slur, and she used drawing as a “coping mechanism” for her disability. She was under a Section 504 plan, which provides accommodations meant to protect a student from discrimination based on disability.

In January 2020, after being targeted by another child, the suit says, the girl made the drawing together with three classmates, and while the girl did most of the drawing, “the other classmates made suggestions about its content, colored it, and wrote parts of the message.”

Afterward she decided she didn’t want the drawing to be given to the girl who allegedly bullied her, but another student delivered the drawing to another classmate, who gave it to a school staff member, the suit said.

On Jan. 10, 2020, police were called by the school at the request of the parent of the student who turned in the drawing, the suit says, and police “interrogated (the girl), and talked to the complaining parent, who wanted to press charges and have (her) arrested.”

While the girl was being kept in the school nurse’s office, she commented to the nurse that she wondered what spending a day in jail would be like, the suit says, and “after the officers heard about the comment, they got upset and handcuffed and arrested” the girl. “At no time that morning was there an imminent danger to anyone in the school that justified the HPD officers handcuffing (the girl), who had been calm and compliant,” the suit said.

The ACLU contends that because drawing is the girl’s coping mechanism previously documented by the school, and she did not want to give the drawing to anyone, the arrest was not justified. The suit also alleges that she was interrogated by police and school officials without regard to her Miranda rights.

A school official called Taylor, the girl’s mother, and incorrectly alleged that the girl slapped a student and arranged to have the drawing delivered to her, the suit says.

Taylor came to the school, where she was at least twice prevented from leaving a room, and was denied a request to see her daughter, according to the suit.

When Taylor finally saw her daughter, the suit says, the girl was already in a departing police car, at which point Taylor began crying loudly. The suit says an officer told Taylor that they thought it was best for her not to see the girl because they did not want her to “beat (the girl) at school.”

Taylor says that in subsequent conversations with school officials, the mother was told that she was prevented from leaving because it was feared that she might physically attack the other parent or the officers.

Taylor drove to the Pearl City precinct station, where her daughter was released to her. The girl was hungry and exhausted, the suit said, and the handcuffs left marks on her wrists. She had been detained by the school or police for over four hours.

“Even though several other kids were involved in making the drawing, (the girl) was the only student who was interrogated, handcuffed, and arrested,” the suit said. “She was also the only Black student involved.”

Girl, mom ‘traumatized’

The girl “suffered physical injuries during the arrest, including on her wrists from the handcuffs which were on too tight,” the suit reads. The girl and her mother “have also suffered emotionally and since the incident, they have fear, distrust, and anxiety when interacting with law enforcement officers. They both are also traumatized by Honowai’s failure to protect (the girl) that day.”

On May 7, 2020, Taylor filed a written complaint with HPD’s Professional Standards Office against the three police officers involved. On Sept. 21 that year, the office responded that they were unable to find sufficient evidence to sustain the complaint, the suit said.

The ACLU is seeking to have the girl’s arrest records for the incident expunged, and wants an order declaring the defendants’ conduct to be unconstitutional and in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

The suit also calls for compensatory damages and punitive damages “for the physical injuries and trauma” of the girl and her mother, plus attorneys’ fees and costs. The suit does not specify a dollar amount. However, an Oct. 18 demand letter from the ACLU requested $500,000 in damages, and new state policies outlining how police and public school employees should handle situations with students. The suit says the demand for relief was not granted.

Race bias denied

Both the police department and education department said Wednesday that their arguments are unchanged since they responded publicly last November to the ACLU’s October demand letter.

Police officials said then that the arrest of the girl was made because she drew a picture of a girl pointing a gun and with a severed head at her feet, addressing it to two students with death threats.

Race had nothing to do with the arrest, and attempts to “inject” the issue are “unfortunate,” interim Chief Rade Vanic wrote at the time. “The incident and the response were not racially motivated. The HPD does not and will not respond to 911 calls for law enforcement intervention and service based on race.”

The education department in its investigation also said it found no evidence of bias or wrongdoing by its employees, and found “a multitude of inaccuracies and omissions” in the account by the ACLU and attorney Mateo Caballero, the DOE response said.

“The HIDOE takes seriously its responsibility to provide a safe and nurturing environment to all children, irrespective of race or disability,” state schools Interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi wrote.

Complaint against Hawaii DO… by Honolulu Star-Advertiser