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California Elementary School Student, 9, Banned From Wearing Donald Trump ‘Make America Great Again’ Hat To School

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 13:58 PST, Jun 3, 2016

A 9-year-old California elementary school student was banned from wearing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” hat to school, according to the Washington Post. On Thursday, while at recess, a third-grader, Logan Autry, at Powers-Ginsburg Elementary School in Fresno was approached by the principal and was asked to remove his hat.

The school principal stated that Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” hat was causing a distraction at the school. But Autry refused to remove his hat, arguing that it was his “favorite hat” and “the First Amendment says I can wear my hat.”

Autry stated that the school principal essentially told him the hat was bringing “negative emotions to the other children who don’t like him.”

By wearing Donald Trump’s hat at recess, it has reportedly caused problems for the third-grader. The students ridiculed the elementary school student, saying that “they didn’t like Trump” and were calling the presidential candidate “stupid.”

But Autry told reporters that he “had to explain to them what Donald Trump was actually doing.” The third-grader went on to say that he reminded them of Trump’s “policies on illegal immigration, and our Second Amendment, and our First Amendment and all of our amendments that need to be protected, which are not going to be an amendment at all if Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders get elected.”

However, bullying at school didn’t stop the Donald Trump fan from wearing the “Make America Great Again” hat. Autry says that he “still want to keep my hat. It’s not the hat that draws attention, it’s just my personality that the other children do not like.”

According to the school district’s code, students are permitted to wear hats outside of the classroom, but if it causes a distraction, school officials are allowed to ask the student to remove their hats.

The elementary student’s uncle, Zacc Autry, stated that the third-grader loves politics, American history, and Donald Trump. And “he supports Trump even at his age. He knows a lot about politics.”

The student’s uncle went on to say that it is unfair of the school principal to ban Autry from wearing his hat.

“They should be able to let kids freely express themselves without the fear of being beaten up or harassed or bullied,” he said.

According to WTVR, Autry met Donald Trump on May 27 of this year at a rally in Fresno, where he was able to shake the presidential candidate’s hand and get an autograph on his red “Make America Great Again” hat.

Autry stated that when he met Trump, he noticed that “he doesn’t speak like a politician. He speaks like a normal person. He knows what this country needs.”

After the elementary school principal banned the third-grader from wearing his red Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” hat on campus, the school district released the following statement.

“Our job as educators is to facilitate a safe learning environment where we encourage robust conversations of diverse and thoughts. We are proud that in this case, our school achieved that goal by allowing the student to wear his hat for several days.

“However, it is also our responsibility to take precautions when the discourse begins to impact our school climate and interrupt school operations.”

The school officials apparently only asked the 9-year-old Donald Trump fan to remove his hat “due to safety concerns after the other students confronted him.”

Although the school principal at Powers-Ginsburg Elementary banned Logan Autry from wearing his Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” hat, even though their school website states that “it does not discriminate on the basis of ‘political affiliation,'” he told reporters that he is going to continue to wear it to school during recess.

[Image via Getty Images/Matthew Cavanaugh]

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