A pair of Michigan middle school students are suing their school district after being forced to remove their anti-Joe Biden “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts in class.
The watchdog group the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is representing two students from Tri County Middle School in Howard City, Michigan, a city about a half-hour north of Grand Rapids. The students are accusing the school of viewpoint discrimination after they were forced to remove the shirts in Feb. of 2022.
FIRE accuses the school of having “ordered the boys to remove the sweatshirts” even though the school allowed other students to wear their LGBTQ and other political apparel, Fox News reported.
The group added that district officials “are censoring students who try to express support for former President Donald Trump or opposition to President Joe Biden.”
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
FIRE added that they seek a “court order blocking the school district’s viewpoint-discriminatory ban on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ apparel and a provision of its dress code banning students from wearing clothing which ‘calls undue attention’ to the student.”
“The incident is part of a pattern of political favoritism by the school district. When the school district relaxed the dress code for field day, a school administrator ordered a student to stop wearing a Trump flag as a cape, but permitted other students to wear gay pride flags in the same manner,” FIRE said.
“Criticism of the president is core political speech protected by the First Amendment,” FIRE attorney Conor Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “Whether it’s a Biden sticker, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirt or Gay Pride T-shirt, schools can’t pick and choose which political beliefs students can express.”
“The slogan [Let’s Go Brandon] exists as a way to express an anti-Biden message without using profanity,” Fitzpatrick added. “A public school district cannot censor speech just because it might cause someone to think about a swear word.”
#FJBMovement alive and strong as it finds it way to @Nascar @TALLADEGA chanting “Fu*k Joe Biden” during race winner’s interview. #NASCAR #FJB #FJoeBiden pic.twitter.com/ZRKVJOgF4A
— Sn00pster (@sn00pdad) October 3, 2021
“These students should not only be allowed to express their political beliefs but should be encouraged to do so. America’s students must be free to exercise their constitutional rights, not just learn about them,” the group concluded.
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