An Indiana high school student has spoken out about his school’s demand that he remove an American flag from his truck. Cameron Blasek told Fox News that he refuses to remove the flag because it represents the “beautiful country we live in,” as well as those who have fought and died for American freedom.
The teenager said school counselors and his vice principal ordered him to take down the Stars and Stripes, but he checked through the school handbook and found that he was not breaking any rules. Fox reports that more students have now added the flag to their vehicles as an act of defiance.
Blasek said dozens of people sent him messages of congratulations and support. The student said if people are offended by the US flag, they should “leave the United States.”
When the story was shared millions of times on social media, principal Tom Black wrote to parents to clarify that nobody had complained about the flag and that “no high school staff member or administrators stated or insinuated that the US Flag was offensive.”
The American flag is increasingly causing controversy in schools and colleges. Last August, a Virginia school similarly ordered a student not to fly it from his vehicle. The student refused and opted for homeschooling. Christopher Hartless said that it was his First Amendment right to fly his nation’s banner, that his family members fought for America, and he would continue to honor them.
In 2022, Trinity College in Connecticut removed the Stars and Stripes from dorms despite allowing other flags to fly without protest. School administrators removed the flag just two days after Finn McCole and Lucas Turco placed it over their dorm room windows. A campus-wide email later told students that no objects were permitted near the facility’s windows.
Back in 2015, a University of California student council formally banned the US flag from campus but overturned the decision two days later.
