A group of students wearing Donald Trump-inspired clothing at a Murfreesboro high school may have inspired their classmates to make violent threats, but school system officials say the story is untrue.
In a Facebook post last week, Siegel High School student Sam Duffield said he and his friends decided to wear Trump flags as a cape as part of something called Matching Day for Senior Week. They did so, Duffield said, to “let everyone know that we love our country.”
“We were then threatened by whole groups, called racist, and we never said anything to them. I was threatened to get jumped and spit on and I replied with ‘have a good day’ and another kid walked into our group and screamed ‘F*** Trump!’” Duffield wrote.
“Teachers then proceeded to tell us that it’s our fault and that we’re inciting violence. Oh well… god bless the USA and Make America Great Again.”
Duffield did not return The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Monday.
Rutherford County School System spokesman James Evans, however, told The Star Duffield’s account was “not an accurate description of what happened,” per Evan’s conversation with the school principal.
“That is a gross exaggeration. There were some kids who got upset about what the kids were wearing,” Evans said.
“The (school) administrators were brought in. They told everyone to calm down. They said everyone had the right to wear what they wanted to wear. No one was asked to remove any clothing. No one was told they’d get charged with inciting a riot.”
School system officials, Evans went on to say, only restrict articles of clothing if they could cause a disruption at school.
According to FOX 17 out of Nashville, the school resource officer reportedly got involved and threatened charges against the students wearing the Trump attire.
“As for the alleged statements by the SRO at the school, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office says they were not aware of any issues and referred FOX 17 News back to Rutherford County Schools,” the station reported.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Trump High School Fans” by Bryson Gleen.
