An eighth-grade student at Dexter McCarty Middle School in Gresham, Oregon, is speaking out after he was suspended from school for wearing a t-shirt honoring fallen soldiers.
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The principal told Alan to change his shirt or face in-school suspension.
But the boy and his family argued the rifle is shown with boots and a helmet, in what is recognized as the battle field cross for fallen soldiers, and is meant to support the troops.
“I’m not changing into a Dexter shirt”, the 13-year-old told Fox 12.
But when the vice principal saw the shirt, Alan says he was asked to change. Holmes chose the latter, and his father came to get him.
Charles Holmes said his son only wanted to show support for his older brother who served in Iraq with the Marines. They won’t let me wear a shirt that supports the people that keep us free, I’m not going to support them.
“I was nervous and kind of heartbroken”, Holmes told KPTV.
“I like the fact that it had memorial on it”, and depicted the phrase “standing for those who stood for us”, Holmes said in a message. “I would’ve stood up for the same thing”.
The school’s dress code doesn’t specifically mention guns, but it does bar students from wearing any clothing promoting alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or violence.
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School officials said they weren’t able to comment on specific student issues because of confidentiality rules, but they believe that weapons on a shirt are inappropriate for a school setting.
