NY Mom Says School Principals Tried to Get Her 12-Year-Old Son to Admit Islamic State Allegiance

One New York mother lambasted two middle school principals for allegedly attempting to coerce her son into writing a false confession stating his allegiance to the Islamic State on Jan. 6.

Nubaisha Amar's beef with East Islip Middle School in New York began last week when her 12-year-old son, Nashawn Uppal, was called out of his final class of the day to speak with the two principals, according to WPIX-TV. Amar claims that Mark Bernard and Jason Stanton then tried to get Nashawn to put down on paper a statement affirming that he was a terrorist and a supporter of the Islamic State.

"He started yelling at me to write 'You are a part ISIS' and 'You would blow up the school,'" Nashawn said, according to KTRK-TV.

The boy and his mother say that Nashawn's trouble began when a group of bullies harassed him at school, calling him a "terrorist" and asking him "what he would blow up next." Finally, in exasperation, Nashawn reportedly told the bullies, "Yes, I am a terrorist, and I will blow up the school fence," WPIX reported. Nashawn insists, however, that he never said that he was "a member of ISIS."

In response, the school principals called Nashawn in for questioning.

"He tells me to write the wrong thing when I didn't say it," Nashawn said.

Amar also criticized the school for failing to inform her of her son's whereabouts for two hours while she waited for him after school.

"Nothing makes sense, and I was like I didn't have a second of a chance to talk to my son alone, what happened? This principal is supposed to call me," Amar said, according to KTRK.

After the incident with the principals, local police were called to the scene, Nashawn was questioned further by the officers, and his family consented to having their home searched. The police found nothing, though Nashawn has been suspended from school through Friday. Amar has accused the two principals of harassing her son and fabricating their version of how the events transpired, and she is also calling for their dismissal.

WPIX reported that the school has denied the allegations against the principals and insists that all "appropriate" disciplinary measures are underway, offering up no further comment. Amar has also expressed that she is very uncomfortable with the idea of her son returning to East Islip Middle School once his suspension ends.

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