Protesters lined the street in front of a South Carolina school Thursday morning after administrators had forced a student at the school to remove an American flag from his truck the previous day.
Wednesday morning administrators from the York Comprehensive High School pulled a student out of class and made him walk to the parking lot where they had already removed an American flag and a POW/MIA flag from the back of his truck, The Herald reported.
18-year-old Peyton Robinson had been showing his patriotism by flying the flags in his truck for a month and no one said a word, but school officials said someone complained about the flags and they were forced to take action.
Administrators from the school said it was a safety issue, and it violated the school’s student driver policy, though Robinson said he couldn’t find a rule about flags on the school’s website.
When Robinson got home from school Wednesday night, he immediately returned the flags to his truck and took to social media to talk about the issue. When he woke up Thursday morning, his friends and neighbors rallied around his cause and decided to take action.
According to local TV station WBTW, many of Robinson’s friends, neighbors and local veterans set up across the street from the school and began waving flags in protest of the school’s actions.
Feeling the pressure from the protesters, school officials caved and said Robinson could keep the flags on his truck as long as they didn’t present any driving hazards.
In a statement on the school district’s website, the district said it had reviewed its policy regarding flags on vehicles and “an exception will be made for the American flag, as long as the size of the flag does not create a driving hazard.”
“Due to the outstanding display of patriotism through peaceful demonstration, it is apparent to us that many are not happy about this policy … ” the statement read. “America was founded by Patriots who led positive change in a myriad of ways. We believe today is a great example of peaceful demonstration leading to positive change.”
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