The American flag flies defiantly in Edmond, Oklahoma, where a student who was told by his school to take the flag off of his truck has tapped into a reservoir of patriotism with his refusal to give in to pressure.
The show of respect for Old Glory began when Edmond Public Schools told high school senior Caleb Horst not to fly the American flag on his truck on school grounds, according to KOCO-TV.
“I’ve never really had a problem with it before, and it’s our First Amendment, so it’s kind of hard for them to infringe upon our rights,” Horst said, noting he’s had a flag on his truck for “quite a while.”
Horst responded by encouraging fellow students to put flags on their vehicles along with him. They did.
‼️FLYING THE FLAG: Edmond students say they’re banding together to fly the American flag after one student was told he can’t have it on his truck. Edmond Public Schools told KOCO its practice to not have flags on campus, but not policy. @koconews https://t.co/9yTsPj4H3i
— Alyse Jones KOCO (@KOCOAlyse) August 22, 2024
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“I’ve got a brother in the military so it kind of hit home to me, so I was, like, he’s fought for that flag, so we should be allowed to fly it. It’d be different if we were trying to make a political statement, but there’s nothing political about it,” senior Vance Miller said.
“It represents us, it’s unity, it represents us as one, and it’s our freedom, we have people that fight and die for that flag every day so I believe we should be allowed to fly it,” Miller said.
“In the end, we’re all American, all united under that flag, so there’s not much anybody can do to separate us,” Horst said.
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Edmond Public Schools issued a statement explaining their actions.
“It is the practice of Edmond Public Schools to not permit students to fly or bring flags of any kind on our school campuses. This practice has been in place for several years and is explained to our students at the start of the school year along with various other policies and procedures,” the statement said.
“This is designed to prevent disruptions and distractions during the school day. It is also done in an effort to provide a safe school environment as flying flags on vehicles creates safety issues in the parking lot as well as can cause damage to other vehicles,” the statement said.
“To be clear, this is not about the American flag or patriotism. Edmond Public Schools proudly displays the American flag prominently and in the proper, respectful way outside each of our buildings and in our classrooms. Not only do we recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning as we start our school day, but we also present the colors and play the national anthem at most of our athletic events. All of these things are done in the proper fashion according to flag etiquette,” the statement said.
The fuss caught the attention of Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters.
Patriotism should never be penalized at Oklahoma schools. Ever. EPS has a history of prioritizing woke agendas over our history and our freedoms. We will investigate and I will act. pic.twitter.com/lG8RJ83mL2
— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) August 23, 2024
“Patriotism should never be penalized at Oklahoma schools. Ever. EPS has a history of prioritizing woke agendas over our history and our freedoms. We will investigate and I will act,” Walters posted on X.
“It sounds like they’re making a bunch of excuses to me,” Walters said of school officials, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail.
“Here’s the reality: you told the kid he couldn’t bring a flag on to campus, that is a ridiculous position, and it needs to be fixed,” he said.
Horst said students and parents have shown their support for the flag.
“It felt pretty good to just see how many people were behind us,” he said, according to KOCO-TV. “I know there’s a lot of people that aren’t behind us, but there’s probably more that are, and it kind of was encouraging.”
“Last week, they talked about disciplinary action,” Sutton Cargill, a junior, said. “Unless they want to put half of their school in AISP (Alternative In-School Placement), they really couldn’t punish everybody for having the American flag out.”
“I’m really hoping it showed the superintendent and principals and everything what we stand for and that we’re not going to just give it up,” Cargill said.
