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Students’ MAGA hats blurred out in high school yearbook photo

Students at a Pennsylvania high school are miffed that their “Make America Great Again” hats were blurred out in a school yearbook photo.

Littlestown High School student Jeremy Gebhart and a friend say they decided to show support for President Trump back in October during the school’s spirit week. Someone snapped a pic of them which eventually made it to the school yearbook … albeit with an alteration.

“We were like they blurred our hats out!” Gebhart said.

According to FOX-43, Gebhart alleges his First Amendment rights were violated. “Everybody has First Amendment rights, freedom of speech and they are allowed to think what they want and say what they want but they aren’y allowed to take that away from other people.

“I just think that whoever did this doesn’t like Trump,” Gebhart said.

At a public school? Naw! Couldn’t be!

From the story:

“I was infuriated because he wears that hat because he supports our president,” said Lorriane Gebhart, Jeremy’s mother. “He’s not doing anything illegal he’s wearing a hat of support,” she added. …

Gebhart says she is disappointed in the school’s decision to blur the hats.

“It’s very upsetting,” said Gebhart. “Someone used this on purpose to blur out that Trump logo and make their own statement,” she added. …

In a statement the superintendent [Christopher Bigger] wrote “I am aware of the yearbook situation and a mistake was made.   The mistake was not noticed during the editorial preview process prior to print.   We apologize on behalf of the yearbook club.  It is not the policy or practice of the district to improperly censor speech. It is not the policy or practice of the district to improperly censor speech. Please understand we are working with young adults who are practicing to become citizens and what a better place to do so than in a school setting.”

Though the report says “it’s unclear at this point” who made the decision to photoshop out the “MAGA” logos, the final responsibility typically falls to the school yearbook advisor(s).

MORE: Yet another school tells a student to cover up MAGA attire

MORE: School bans student’s MAGA hat, claims creates ‘unsafe’ environment

IMAGE: John Chase / Shutterstock.com

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About the Author
Associate Editor
Dave has been writing about education, politics, and entertainment for over 20 years, including a stint at the popular media bias site Newsbusters. He is a retired educator with over 25 years of service and is a member of the National Association of Scholars. Dave holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Delaware.