11-year-old arrested after not reciting pledge of allegiance

A Florida mother is demanding justice for her 11-year-old son.

She says he refused to recite the pledge of allegiance and ended up getting arrested over it.

It happened at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy in Lakeland earlier this month.

Dhakira Talbot says a substitute teacher asked her son to stand up for the pledge and he refused.

The situation escalated and the 6th-grade student was arrested for refusing to follow multiple commands, repeatedly calling school leaders racist and being disruptive.

"My son has never been through anything like this, and I feel they should've handled this differently," Talbot said.

School district officials say students are not required to participate in the pledge of allegiance.

They say the substitute teacher will no longer be able to work for the district.