A lawsuit has been filed in Oregon after a high school refused to allow a student to wear a pro-Trump border wall T-shirt to class, apparently because it offended some people.
Addison Barnes, an 18-year-old Liberty High School senior, said he was asked to cover up his “Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co” shirt or go home.
The T-shirt had the 2016 Trump quote: “The wall just got 10 feet taller,” Fox 12 Oregon reported.
The student refused to cover up the shirt and decided to go home instead, but the school treated his leaving as a suspension, which was later withdrawn.
Oregon school sued after refusing to allow a student to wear a pro-Trump T-shirt in class. https://t.co/zkHJ01wikY
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 22, 2018
“I have my First Amendment and it’s not right what they’re doing,” Barnes told a local news station.
“I had a teacher who had a pro-sanctuary-city poster in her room which was up all year, yet as I wear a pro-border wall shirt, I get silenced and suspended for wearing that,” he added.
The lawsuit claims that Barnes wore the T-shirt to school for his “People and Politics” class that had planned to engage in a discussion on immigration.
The teacher, as well as others, found Barnes’ shirt to be offensive.
Another student, senior Mark Guzman said: “This school is very Latino-populated.
The shirt “offended a lot of people. In the hall, kids would ask me if I’d seen it,” Guzman said.
The lawsuit is asking for Barnes’ First Amendment rights to be upheld and for nominal damages.
A high school spokeswoman declined to comment while the lawsuit is under review, according to Fox 12.
