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Tennessee School Punishes Kid For Flying ‘Thin Blue Line’ Flag, But Not the Students Who STOLE the Flag

High school student Skyler Hogg was suspended from school for “causing a disturbance” after students stole his pro-police flag from his truck, he and his father Josh Hogg said on the Todd Starnes Show.

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The following is a rush transcript from The Todd Starnes Radio Show. Listen to the program live Monday – Friday from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. Click here to listen to the full interview.

TODD STARNES: [01:18:58] Josh and Skyler happen to be on the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line right now, fellows. Good to have you with us. [01:19:04][5.6]

JOSH HOGG: [01:19:05] Thank you. Good to be here. [01:19:06][1.0]

Should the pro-police student be punished because other students stole his flag?

TODD: [01:19:08] So, Skyler, let’s start with you. I want you to explain what happened at the school, the day of the incident. [01:19:15][7.8]

SKYLER HOGG: [01:19:17] Yes, sir. I was sitting in class when I got notified by one of my classmates that somebody had ripped my flag down off my truck and ran across the parking lot and threw it by a dumpster on the ground. So I went outside, picked it up and took it back to my truck and everybody videoed it and. Made fun of me and called me racist for having the flag and stuff, but I mean, it’s a thin blue line flag. [01:19:40][22.6]

TODD: [01:19:42] So, Skyler, you had a thin blue line flag flying on your truck, and the video that I’ve seen shows what a couple of students going out there and actually stealing the flag. [01:19:52][10.5]

SKYLER: [01:19:54] Yes, sir. [01:19:54][0.2]

TODD: [01:19:55] All right, so all of this happened. Did you alert school leadership about the fact that you were a victim of a crime? [01:20:02][7.2]

SKYLER: [01:20:04] Yes, sir, I did. [01:20:04][0.6]

TODD: [01:20:05] And tell me what happened. [01:20:06][0.8]

SKYLER: [01:20:08] As I was walking up to my truck about to leave school that day, I got mord that the principal called me out there. He talked to me and all he did was tell me to park in the teacher’s section because that would. I was also threatened with people, splashing my tires and busting my windows and all like vandalizing my truck. And the way they thought they would take that was me just parking in a student section and leaving the flag at home. [01:20:34][25.9]

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TODD: [01:20:35] And so I want to bring your dad into this, Josh, you’re I mean, you’re a law enforcement professional, what kind of work do you do? [01:20:42][6.1]

JOSH: [01:20:44] I work for the local sheriff’s department. [01:20:45][1.2]

TODD: [01:20:46] All right, so you work for the local sheriff’s department and you hear this story. And what did you tell your son? And first of all, what was your reaction? [01:20:53][7.4]

JOSH: [01:20:55] Well, when the principal had called my wife that following evening, my son was actually there, I was at work when the phone call took place and the principal asked my wife if she would mind, would he would she have a talk with our son and ask him not not to bring the flag back to school? Well, when she called and told me this, I called my son and I told him, I said, This is your right to support me and all all the people that wear this uniform. If you want to fly that flag, you fly proudly. And he agreed with me. So that’s when he decided not to take the flag off this truck. [01:21:29][34.9]

TODD: [01:21:30] And so, so Josh, what happened to your son the next day? [01:21:34][3.5]

JOSH: [01:21:35] Well, he called me. He had pulled up at school, he said, before he could even get out of his vehicle. What was this? The principal. [01:21:43][7.6]

SKYLER: [01:21:44] The assistant principal walked out to my truck and said that he had to confiscate my flag because I was told to leave it at home when I was playing it day at. [01:21:51][7.6]

TODD: [01:21:53] Joshua-I. I’m sorry, go ahead. [01:21:56][2.3]

JOSH: [01:21:56] They removed his flag from his truck and sent him straight to the office, and then that’s when Skyler called me and said, I’m being suspended from school. [01:22:03][7.3]

TODD: [01:22:05] What about the people who actually committed a crime by stealing the flag in the first place, Josh? [01:22:11][5.3]

JOSH: [01:22:12] Well, I haven’t had any 100 percent confirmation, but I believe they got, I think, a one day suspension. They didn’t even have to. They stayed in school for the remainder of the day. And then I think they the following day, which was Friday, I believe they were suspended from school then, but I’m not 100% sure on that. [01:22:28][16.4]

TODD: [01:22:29] So, so, Skyler, you were suspended. What was your reaction to all of this? [01:22:33][4.5]

SKYLER: [01:22:35] I was more so just really ticked off and upset that this is what our world has come to. [01:22:40][4.6]

TODD: [01:22:42] Josh, I have to imagine working in law enforcement, first of all, you’ve got to be proud of your son. I mean, clearly you raised him right to, you know, respect law enforcement. [01:22:51][8.7]

JOSH: [01:22:52] Absolutely. [01:22:52][0.0]

TODD: [01:22:53] At the same time, for the school not to do the right thing here, the right thing is to stand up for your son who was who was flying a flag that honors police officers. [01:23:03][10.0]

JOSH: [01:23:07] Right, and no, I went and met with this principal and, you know, to get an explanation of why he’s being suspended. And he goes on to tell me it’s because one he disobeyed what he was told by the administrator, which he was never told he was. He was asked through my wife and then two. They said he was causing a distraction at school by having that disturbance, by having that flag on his throat. [01:23:32][25.6]

TODD: [01:23:33] So the mere fact that he had the flag on the truck, that was the disturbance. [01:23:36][2.9]

JOSH: [01:23:37] That’s what that’s what they’re trying to say. [01:23:39][1.4]

TODD: [01:23:39] Well, that’s unacceptable . [01:23:39][0.4]

JOSH: [01:23:40] They weren’t trying to say that those students went out there during school hours. Was it a service? They’re saying, my son was that experiment. [01:23:46][6.0]

TODD: [01:23:47] That’s outrageous. And and this has got to get this has got to get remedied. Josh, I’m curious, what are your next steps here? [01:23:55][7.7]

JOSH: [01:23:56] Well, I’m still trying to take it slowly and trying to figure out what steps I need to take. I’m still waiting on contact back from an attorney’s office. [01:24:05][8.5]

TODD: [01:24:06] Well, this is just an unacceptable response from the school. Where do things stand now? When did all of this happen? [01:24:14][7.8]

JOSH: [01:24:16] This happened this past week, and my son has been driving to school for the past couple of weeks, and he’s had this flag on his truck for the past few weeks. And the principal even told me himself that he would have never said anything to my son about that flag if it wasn’t for these other students taking it off of his truck and throwing it. [01:24:34][18.3]

TODD: [01:24:36] Again,The problem is the other students, and this is a great reason I had called the whole school together and said, All right, kids, let’s talk about the First Amendment and here’s what you’re allowed to do and here’s what you’re not allowed to do. This could have been a great learning experience for the kids, but instead sounds like the principal has chosen to do the easy thing, which is to go woke and punish Skyler. [01:24:57][20.5]

JOSH: [01:24:58] Right, and I even made that same exact comment to him in his office that you need to seek a student’s correct meaning of being. And you know about the First Amendment, right. [01:25:07][9.0]

TODD: [01:25:09] Now, so, Skyler, are you still driving? Do you still have the flag and your in your truck? Are you back at school? [01:25:15][5.9]

SKYLER: [01:25:16] No, sir, I’m not back at school, but that flag will always fly and let this woman rain. [01:25:20][3.9]

TODD: [01:25:22] Well, good for you, Skyler. I mean, based on what you’ve told me, you’ve done nothing wrong here and it sounds like you were just trying to honor your dad and other police officers. And clearly you’re dealing with some woke leftist or cowards. Josh and I don’t mind using that word for the principal. No, the principal knew he was doing something wrong and still did it anyway. That’s just cowardice. [01:25:46][24.2]

SKYLER: [01:25:48] Right. [01:25:48][0.0]

TODD: [01:25:49] All right. [01:25:49][0.2]

JOSH: [01:25:50] You know, for his safety, we have decided not to put him back in the Jackson County schools were actually going to homeschool him for the rest of the year and then hopefully next year we’re going to get him in a neighboring county school district. [01:26:01][10.9]

TODD: [01:26:02] Yeah-Look, I don’t blame you. I mean, you mentioned they were threatening to slash your tires. I mean, OK. These are criminal acts here. At some point, why didn’t the school call into law enforcement and deal with these, these threats? [01:26:16][13.8]

JOSH: [01:26:19] But yeah, that’s a good question, because not one law enforcement officer was ever ever notified of this when it happened at school. [01:26:26][7.2]

TODD: [01:26:27] All right, this is and this is the JCM Early College? [01:26:30][2.8]

JOSH: [01:26:32] Correct. [01:26:32][0.0]

TODD: [01:26:33] All right. Well, we’re going to reach out to the school district, Josh and Skyler, and we’re going to try to see if we can’t get some answers. But this is just simply unacceptable. And guys, we’re going to leave it there, so we appreciate you calling in and you hang in there, Skyler. Don’t be discouraged. And Josh, you do as well. You got my content information. So if we could be of any help, you just let us know, guys. [01:26:58][25.7]

JOSH: [01:27:00] Thank you. [01:27:00][0.2]

SKYLER: [01:27:01] Thank you. [01:27:01][0.3]

TODD: [01:27:01] All right. Josh Hogg and Skyler Hogg. [01:27:05][3.5]

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