(WFLA/CNN Newsource) – The attorney for the parents of a New Jersey teen required to cut his dreadlocks in order to compete in a wrestling match has issued a statement.
The family says 16-year-old Andrew Johnson was about to step on the mat for a match when referee Alan Maloney, who is white, told him his dreadlocks violated state wrestling rules.
He was given the choice of forfeiting or getting a quick haircut on the spot.
He chose the latter and won the match.
The family attorney says the family is waiting on the results of New Jersey Division of Civil Rights investigation of the incident.
The attorney said the referee was late for the weigh-in and should have raised any issues sooner, not right before the match.
The attorney called the referee’s actions that day “outrageous” and said his conduct “should be a disqualifying race-related transgression.”