ST. CLOUD, Fla. — Parents of a 2-year-old in Osceola County say their daughter, who they believe is the only Black child in the class, was made to play Rosa Parks in a reenactment that included her being restrained by another student in a police uniform and fingerprinted.
“Florida parents say…” implies that there’s a possibility the child wasn’t actually restrained.
Compare with:
“2-year-old girl was restrained during Rosa Parks reenactment at Florida day care”
Except that the school denys that the girl was restrained, which you would know if you read the article. So a journalist can’t say “2-year-old was restrained” because there’s no proof that she was. The only source of that claim is the parents interview and none of that can be taken as fact. Hence, “Florida parents say…”
There are apparrently photos showing the child being restrained by another child in a police vest, which the news agency chose not to share, so it’s a little more than “parents said…”
Yes, but if they definitely say she was but the school can somehow prove she wasn’t, they can be sued. That’s why even with photo and video evidence, articles will say “alleged” or “person says,” because it hasn’t been legally proven yet. It’s protection from potential lawsuits and legal liability, not bad writing.