The Littlestown High School administration has issued an apology to two of its students after the embroidered text on their red "Make America Great Again" hats did not make the yearbook.
The hats, which originally said "Trump: Make America Great Again," were redesigned to be plain red caps after an anonymous individual doctored the photograph for the yearbook.
According to Superintendent Christopher E. Bigger's statement, the "mistake" was simply not caught during the final yearbook edit. Although the administrator did not provide any further details about the culprit, he did clarify that the school is making an effort to not "improperly censor speech."
Jeremy Gebhart, one of the teens, told local outlet FOX 43 that he and his friend chose to wear the hats during "Spirit Week" in 2018 to show their support of US President Donald Trump, asserting 45 simply "wants to help our country."
The outrage did not stop at school, however. Lorraine Gebhart, Jeremy's mother, said in a since-deleted Facebook post that she was furious because the "censorship" was an attempt by the culprit to support their own political stance at her son's expense.
"Clearly by using it and blurring the Trump emblem, someone was making a statement and expressing their opinion." Lorraine said, according to the original FOX 43 report, adding that above all, her child's First Amendment right to free speech was violated.
"Everybody has First Amendment rights, right? They have freedom of speech and they are allowed to think what they want and say what they want, but they're not allowed to take that away from other people," Jeremy echoed to the outlet.
Though Jeremy has to wait a couple years to make his voice heard in the polls, the 16-year-old and his mother had a brief message for the individual who edited the picture.
"You did not silence us."
Despite the family's thoughts on the matter, Lorraine told WPMT-TV that she accepts the superintendent's apology and does not plan to pursue legal action against the school
This is not the first time Trump-related gear has garnered negative attention. In January, Sputnik reported on the fallout that ensued after a US Army veteran from Missouri decided to wear a "Trump 2016" shirt to the gym. Before he could get his reps in, the vet found himself branded a "racist" by the facility's owner.
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