Recently, East Central High School in rural Southeastern Indiana found itself embroiled in controversy after requesting that a patriotic student remove an American flag he had fastened to the back of his pickup truck. Officials at the high school have since apologized following a social media post about the incident that went viral, gaining national attention.
Cameron Blasek, a student at East Central, was called upon by the vice principal and counselor, who threatened him with punitive action if the flag was not taken down. Furthermore, Principal Thomas Black informed him that the school reserved the right to ask him to remove the flag. However, Blasek, in his undeterred patriotism, refused to comply with the orders.
“I kind of just told them straight up from the get-go, I said, ‘It’s not gonna happen,’” Blasek said, recounting the interaction with the school authorities. “I read them their own handbook and I read them all the guidelines and I read them Indiana State laws and everything that shows them that I’m perfectly legal and fine to fly that flag.”
However, the school hit back at Blasek, telling him that the school still maintains the right to enforce their request on an ad-hoc basis since he is on school property. This explanation was insufficient for the student, who informed his superiors that he would not comply. “‘You’re right,’ I said, ‘…but since it’s just a request, a request means that you’re not demanding or telling me that I have to. So, I’m going to decline your request,’” Blasek said.
Following the incident, Blasek explained that he received an outpouring of support, where nearly 24 other students decided to join in and fly American flags as well. “People were sending me messages throughout the night and everything of everybody going out and buying flags left and right. I was getting messages. My phone was blowing up,” he said.
Moreover, the controversy went viral across social media platforms, where popular conservative X account “Libs of TikTok” shared a post about the school, which has garnered nearly 7 million views as of writing this article. “A student at @EastCentralHS in Indiana drove to school with an American flag on the back of his truck. The school reportedly responded by threatening to punish him if he didn’t remove it. After hearing what happened, nearly 2 dozen other students flew American flags on their vehicles, protesting the school’s decision! The school caved, allowing students to fly flags on their vehicles but said they won’t allow students to fly American flags next school year. Why do American schools hate America?” Libs of TikTok wrote in its caption.
Eventually, the school backed down from its request to prevent American flags from being flown in the parking lot, noting the importance of the patriotic symbol. “After careful consideration and in recognition of the importance of the U.S. flag as a symbol of unity and national identity, I am pleased to inform you that we are allowing the display of the U.S. flag by students in the East Central High School parking lot,” read a letter from Black’s.
“I would like to extend my sincere apologies for any confusion that may have arisen due to the initial lack of clarity on this matter,” Black reportedly said. See WCPO 9 news coverage of Blasek’s patriotic defiance below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
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