Video: Wisconsin High School Student Banned From Wearing Gun T-Shirts Now Suing The School
OutdoorHub Reporters 04.12.18
A high school freshman is hauling his principal to court after being told he was not allowed to wear T-shirts with guns on them.
“I didn’t think it would get this big, this bad,” Matthew Schoenecker said after his feud with Markesan High School escalated to the point where it was featured on WISN 12 News.
“I enjoy shooting, and I enjoy the Second Amendment, like the right to keep and bear arms,” Matthew continued.
He was reportedly told before the school’s spring break that he could no longer come to school with shirts depicting guns and other weapons, so when he showed up to school again sporting a gun T-shirt, he was sent directly to the principal’s office.
John Koopman, principal of Markesan High School, is listed as the defendant in the lawsuit Schoenecker filed with Milwaukee’s federal district court.
The filing says Schoenecker was “chastised” by his teachers, and was ultimately referred to Koopman for wearing the shirts with “inappropriate” images. It also states the school has no rules “explicitly banning wearing clothing that depicts firearms.”
As for Matthew’s parents, they say “it was his choice, whether he wears it or not. He decided ‘I’m gonna wear this. It’s my right.’ When I heard about it, I was a little upset of course, and said we got to get down there and see what’s going on,” Matthew’s father, Brian Schoenecker said.
When they arrived, Matthew was being forced to sit in a tiny office apparently known as “the cubicle” because he refused to cover up his shirt.
“It says LOVE on his shirt. Another one says, ‘Celebrate diversity.’ There’s nothing in there saying he’s promoting violence whatsoever, which is what the principal said was the issue, that he was promoting violence at school,” Matthew’s mother, Pam Schoenecker stated.
Matthew has received support from a gun rights group, Wisconsin Carry, who is funding the federal lawsuit against principal Koopman.
