Charles Stillwater
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Tyler Maxwell, 18, who is going to cast his first vote for president, is suing his school after he said he was wrongly punished for a display showing support for President Donald Trump. Records show Tyler and his father used a front-end loader to put a massive elephant figurine with “Trump” branding into the bed of his Ford pickup truck.
“I’ve been pretty excited for the last four years to be able to vote,” Tyler said. According to the reports, Tyler’s grandfather bought the elephant from an old car dealership and passed it on to his grandson before the 2016 election.
On Monday, September 14, Tyler drove to school with the decorated elephant in the back of his truck and parked it in the student parking lot. But Tyler was told to take it off-campus. Records show Tyler drove to school that Tuesday with the elephant. Tyler said, “Tuesday morning, my parking pass was taken away”. Then his family involved their attorney.
“It’s a freedom of speech case. The question is should a student have to give up his free speech right when he drives onto school property. The answer to that is no and the school just needs to realize that,” said Tyler’s attorney, Jacob Heubert, who works for the Goldwater Institute.
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Volusia County Public Schools released a statement:
“The school board has obligation to provide politically neutral campuses…We allow political expression by students in the form of a T-shirt or a bumpersticker. But large signage is a different situation. A passerby could interpret a large sign in a school parking lot to be an endorsement by the school district…We don’t allow our parking lots to be used for political statements.”
Tyler’s attorney filed a lawsuit against Volusia County Schools in Federal Court, accusing the district of violating the 18-year old’s freedom of speech.“I feel it is a violation of my 1st amendment rights,” Tyler said.
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This is not an open/shut case for the plaintiff, in my opinion. Interesting to know the outcome.
What difference does it make if it’s a bumper sticker or a large elephant statue? Either way their parking lot is making a political statement to anyone that sees the items while on campus. I’m not a Trump supporter but, I do feel this young mans rights were violated.
As an American I have RIGHTS n if those rights are violated, thats against the law.
Its no more than wearing a TRUMP shirt to school OR work, placing a bumper sticker on my book cover or bumper of my car. Who knows, he might have been going to a TRUMP RALLY after school n didn’t have time to go back home, every situation is different but MY RIGHTS ARE MY RIGHTS!!!
As a Trump supporter in this town where we would see the Trump elephant we loved a young person showing support of his political views . It was does quietly . He was not standing and screaming his political views at people . It’s the same as a bumper sticker showing your support for your political party .
good luck with your fight with the school board.
Parent of a former student .
The jurisdiction lay in federal court, obviously.
Lots of things about my life were easily ruined because the jurisdictional issue was ignored and I was not believed not by my attorney Kirk T. Bauer or the jury, certainly not by the state felony prosecuter Edwin Davis, case 92-35303 Judge Hutcheson here at The Foxman Center. The trial was 5/94 & their witness Lee Greenberg then murderd my friend Alan Robertson.
Which school is it ? I would love to take some Trump supporters and show our support for our president on the public right away by the school.
Robert, I heard it was Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange.
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?2020?
I dont think its fair hes making a statement about hes a Republican and thst his right as an American citizen LET him have back his Pass For Parking Jackie McAdams Amen
I agree his rights may have been violated, but this student only did this to cause trouble. He wanted the entire world to know that he supported Trump, including the people who don’t support him. He did this to piss people off. He knew the school would say something about it so he got his lawyer ready for when it happened. Unbelievable how far people can go just to make others upset.
Causing trouble for supporting a candidate? No matter your politics we all have the right to express them.
Robert, I heard it was Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange.
?T?R?U?M?P ?
?2020?
The kid is there to learn, not make Poltical statements! That’s what taxpayers pay for!! The school sets the rules, time for him to follow.
These adults are just as bad as the children. There are rules that dhould be followed and not bent ti duit one individual. Im dure there are other supporters at that same school but no one else decided to put a large elephant in their trunk. This is rubbish!