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High school posts honor roll with knife-wielding girl after College Fix inquiry

Mother said she ‘promoted peace’

Independence High School in Columbus, Ohio updated the honor roll list on its website to show that Ma’Khia Bryant had recently earned honor roll status for the past nine-week quarter.

But the update only happened after inquiries from The College Fix.

“Yes, she was an honor roll student and has been described by her educators as a very driven and engaged student who wanted to grow and be a productive member of her community,” district spokesperson Jacqueline Bryant, unrelated to Ma’Khia, told The College Fix on Friday, April 23.

When asked why the honor roll list on the website did not list her, Bryant said “it wouldn’t be listed on the school website as it was a recent honor.” Bryant would not turn over the list and asked The Fix to file a public record request instead.

Sometime over the weekend, at least by Monday, Independence High School updated the website with a new list that included Ma’Khia Bryant.

Bryant died after a Columbus police officer, Nick Reardon, shot and killed her while she went to stab a black woman.

Bryant, who seconds earlier could be seen with a black male adult attacking a girl, died soon after Reardon stopped the knife attack.

The shooting occurred minutes before a Hennepin County, Minnesota jury convicted Derek Chauvin of three separate charges in the death of George Floyd.

The shooting quickly turned into a rallying cry for Black Lives Matter activists and professors who had definitely not seen the initial body camera footage, released later that night, nor another camera angle which showed Bryant cocked and loaded to stab a woman, a few days later.

It took only a few hours for Twitter and the media to jump on Bryant’s innocence and to echo that she was an “honor roll student.”

The first reference to Bryant’s honor roll status appeared to come from local reporter, Lacey Crisp, who tweeted out the video of Paula Bryant, Ma’Khia’s mom.

Her mom said that Ma’Khia “promoted peace” and was an “honor roll student.”

One of those statements turned out to be true.

MORE: OSU students rally to cut ties with cops after Bryant shooting

IMAGE: Columbus Police/Hot Air screenshot

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Matt has previously worked at Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action and Turning Point USA. While in college, he wrote for The College Fix as well as his college newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix. He previously interned for government watchdog group Open the Books. He holds a B.A. from Loyola University-Chicago and an M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He lives in northwest Indiana with his family.