US teenager arrested after protesting school dress code violation

A US teenager found herself in jail last month after protesting a school dress code violation.

Isabella Messer, 15, was arrested during an altercation with staff at Hopkinsville High School in Kentucky on August 23.

The incident came after Messer was suspended from the school after its local area board, Christian County Public Schools, changed the rules about how students should dress.

According to mother Theresa Rucks, parents were not notified about the new rule - which prohibits students from wearing shoulder-exposing tops - before the start of the school year.

To help Messer protest the suspension, Rucks had a T-shirt made for her to wear upon her return, reading ‘Do my shoulders turn you on?’ and ‘If so, go back to the 1920s’ on the back.

“Instead of calling my sister-in-law to handle the situation how it should have been, the officer who responded manhandled my niece and left visible markings on her neck and arms.”

RELATED: Male students strip down to protest 'sexist' dress code

A police report states Messer was “uncooperative and loud” with the school principal in the lobby in the presence of several people, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

The teen was handcuffed while the school resource officer tried to retrieve property from her hands, as she attempted to pull away from him.

The report also states assistant principal Nathan Howton claims to have seen Messer kick the officer in the leg as he tried to take her phone, which she’d been holding behind her back.

Rucks claims this occurred during an in-school suspension, with her daughter putting her foot up in response to the school officers trying to take her phone from her.

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