dreadlocks

Officials suspended Darryl George, 19, last August, saying his dreadlocks violated the dress code.

But Mr George refused to cut his braided dreadlocks, with the family citing its cultural significance in the black community.

The law, which took effect in September 2023, bars employers and schools from penalising people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including dreadlocks.

The district has maintained that George's long hair — dreadlocks that he would typically wear to school twisted back and tucked — breached its policy for boys' hair length because, if let down, George's hair would fall below his earlobes, eyebrows or shirt collar.

Mr Njuguna says he thought his friend was profiled by the officer who shot him because he had dreadlocks.