Oh, sheesh, not another one of these

This kind of stunt goes back at least to the Tawana Brawley hoax that really launched Al Sharpton's career as a fraudulent huckster, and of course the most recent particularly egregious example was the Jussie Smollett fiasco.

But just who goaded this girl to do this?

A girl of 12 who attends the private Virginia school where Vice President Mike Pence's wife Karen is an art teacher has admitted she made up her account of a racist attack in which three white boys cut her dreadlocks. 

Amari Allen said last week that she was about to use the slide at the Immanuel Christian School playground when three white classmates pushed her down, held her hands behind her back, called her names and cut off some of her “ugly, nappy” dreadlocks. Police were investigating the incident, which was widely covered in the media because Karen Pence worked part-time at the school. 

Allen's grandparents issued an apology Monday saying that the whole thing had been made up. 

"To those young boys and their parents, we sincerely apologize for the pain and anxiety these allegations have caused," the grandparents, who are also Allen's legal guardians, said. "To the administrators and families of Immanuel Christian School, we are sorry for the damage this incident has done to trust within the school family and the undue scorn it has brought to the school. To the broader community, who rallied in such passionate support for our daughter, we apologize for betraying your trust." 

"We understand there will be consequences and we’re prepared to take responsibility for them," they added. The principal of Immanuel Christian School confirmed Allen admitted her allegation was false. 

Allen alleged last week that three boys attacked her on the school's playground and cut off her dreadlocks. "They kept laughing and calling me names," she said, claiming they told her "I shouldn't have been born." 

She said: "One of the boys put his hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream while they used scissors on my hair,” she alleged to The Daily Beast on Thursday. "They were all laughing, calling me ugly, and saying I should have never been born.” 

The assault, she said, lasted “a minute or two” and ended when the bell rang to signal the end of recess and the three boys went to their math class. "They ran off laughing, and I was just sitting there. I’m hurt that it happened. All I want to ask them is, Why?” 

The Monday afternoon alleged racist attack at the private Immanuel Christian School—an already controversial school where Karen Pence, the second lady of the United States, teaches art class part-time—has “destroyed” the Allen family, and they are now seeking legal and administrative retributions. 

At the time, Allen's family was said to be seeking "legal and administrative retributions" from the school, which said in a statement: “We take seriously the emotional and physical well-being of all our students, and have a zero-tolerance policy for any kind of bullying or abuse. 

"We are deeply disturbed by the allegations being made, and are in communication with the family of the alleged victim to gather information and provide whatever support we can. We have also reached out to law enforcement to ask them to conduct a thorough investigation, and further inquiries should be directed to the Fairfax County Police Department.” 

Her mother Cynthia, 53, said that her daughter was "in real pain but she wants justice." It was said that it had taken the girl two days to report the incident and had initially told her mother that the missing parts of her hair were the result of playing “beauty salon” with another friend. 

“We continued to press her on it because it just didn’t sound like something she would do,” Cynthia Allen said. “Then she started breaking down crying, trembling, and shaking before telling us what happened.” 

Kinda takes the wind out of the sails of the mom's search for justice, doesn't it?

Look, I know there's a world of difference between a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old, or even a 10-year-old. My fertile 12-year-old brain was brimming with thoughts, impulses, notions, and drives to explore that had fired my curiosity, but any person that age needs some steering to even decide to try to pull something like this off.

The fact that Karen Pence is on the faculty at the school has to figure front and center in this. Somebody who hates sound Christian doctrine was almost certainly involved.

This smells really funny.

Just what post-America needs, at this time when its plate is already brimming.