A Missouri school district is being sued for slapping a “cyberbully” label on a 13-year-old who shared a picture of Dr. Pepper cans in the shape of a rifle.
The incident took place in September, when the student, known as W.G., posted the photo to his private Snapchat account from his personal device while at home, according to Reason.
A lawsuit filed by Goldwater Institute’s American Freedom Network said, he was responding to a theme of “can art” and also attached an audio file with the words, “This is the famous AK-47, with over 50 million manufactured in ten countries, the AK-47 is the most popular assault rifle in the world.”
The next day, W.G.’s school principal called Riley Grunden to say her son would be searched before entering the school. On the day after the search, Grunden was hauled before the school’s principal, superintendent, and school resource officer.
The principal ruled that despite “no credible evidence of any danger,” the post “brought fear to other students” and could potentially be seen as a “terrorist threat.” The school then handed W.G. a three-day suspension and labeled him a cyberbully on his school record, even though he had no history of bullying or cyberbullying.
The lawsuit said the boy’s freedom of expression rights were violated.
“This is unconscionable — my son never hurt or threatened a single person,” Grunden said, according to Fox News.
“Instead of using common sense, our own school district treated my child like a criminal for arranging empty soda cans in a way they didn’t like,” Grunden added.
“What happened to his First Amendment rights?” she asked.
Did the school overstep or is there more to the story?
The Goldwater Institute said a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision said schools have minimal power to limit off-campus speech.
Dave Roland, director of litigation and co-founder of the Freedom Center of Missouri, said the Goldwater Institute is “pursuing this case to turn the tide against a troubling national wave of schools overreaching their proper authority when it comes to policing and punishing off-campus student expression.”
“From students suspended for posting memes to punishments for fictional creative writing, schools are increasingly treating ordinary adolescent communication as grounds for disciplinary action,” Roland said.
“The consequences extend far beyond individual cases – each unjust punishment sends a message to all students that their constitutional rights disappear the moment they log onto social media.”
The lawsuit alleged the Mountain View-Birch Tree R-III School District misconstrued the post “in order to justify punishing him for creative expression protected by the First Amendment.”
The suit noted that Lana Tharp, district superintendent, at one point said, “We have enough information to believe the video has caused fear to at least one student and understandably so. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority and we responded swiftly to address the concerns.”
The suit also quoted Tharp as saying, “We want to inform you that we have become aware of a rumor circulating on social media regarding a potential threat. Following a thorough investigation we have found no credible evidence of any danger.”
The lawsuit comes 12 years after a supposed gun-related case dubbed the “Pop Tart” case in which a 7-year-old Maryland student was suspended for two days after chewing his breakfast into the shape of a gun and showing it off to students, according to The Washington Post.
“It was harmless,” father William Welch said in 2013 after the incident took place. “It was a danish.”
School officials said they were punishing misconduct, not the shape which the misconduct took.
The case was resolved through a mediator in 2016 after the family protested the suspension and sued. Terms of the settlement were not released.
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