14 Year Old Suspended for NRA Shirt, Charged with Obstruction, Faces Year in Jail
A West Virginia eighth-grader who was suspended and arrested in April for failing to remove a shirt emblazoned with the National Rifle Association's logo was formally charged with obstructing an officer.
14-year-old Jared Marcum faces a $500 fine and a maximum of one year in prison, according to WTRF.
"Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this," The boy's father, Allen Lardieri, told WTRF. "I don't think it should have ever gotten this far."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Every aspect of this is just totally wrong," Lardieri added. "He has no background of anything criminal up until now and it just seems like nobody wants to admit they're wrong."
The incident took place when Marcum wore a T-shirt to school that displayed the National Rifle Association's logo and hunting rifle. He insisted that the T-shirt did not violate any dress code in place at Logan Middle School.
Marcum had already been in five classes in the morning without any problems, and was waiting in line at the school's cafeteria when a teacher told the eighth grade student to remove his T-shirt immediately or to turn it inside out to hide the logo.
He refused, insisting that he was not breaking any school dress policy, resulting in the teacher sending him to the school office to be disciplined.
The student was left shocked when the police were called: "When the police came, I was still talking and telling them that this was wrong, that they cannot do this, it's not against any school policy. The officer, he told me to sit down and be quiet. I said, 'No, I'm exercising my right to free speech.' I said it calmly."
The incident concluded with the police charging him with disrupting an educational process and obstructing an officer.
According to the school's website Logan County Schools' dress code prohibits clothing and accessories that display profanity, violence, discriminatory messages or sexually suggestive phrases. Clothing displaying advertisements for any alcohol, tobacco, or drug product also is prohibited.
