
A Denver-area boy was suspended for wearinga homemade anti-Obama T-shirt to school. (KDVR Image)
An 11-year-old in Aurora, Colo., says his first amendment rights are being trampled after he was suspended for wearing a homemade shirt that reads “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.”
The fifth grader at Aurora Frontier K-8 School wore it on a day when students were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism.
The boy’s father Dann Dalton describes himself as a “proud conservative” who has taken part in some controversial anti-abortion protests. Dalton says the school made a major mistake by suspending his son for wearing the shirt.
“It’s the public school system,” Dalton says. “Let’s be honest, it’s full of liberal loons.”
According the the boy’s father, the school district told the student, Daxx Dalton, that he had the choice of changing his shirt, turning his shirt inside out or being suspended.
Daxx chose suspension.
“They’re taking away my right of freedom of speech,” he says. “If I have the right to wear this shirt I’m going to use it. And if the only way to use it is get suspended, then I’m going to get suspended.”
Daxx’s dad agrees with him and is encouraging his son to stand his ground. “The facts are his rights were violated. Period.”
Aurora Public Schools would not talk about the case but said the district “Respects a student’s right to free speech, such as the right to wear specific clothing,” but administrators say they review any situation that interrupts the learning environment.
Paperwork submitted by the school district says Daxx Dalton was not suspended for wearing the shirt, but for willful disobedience and defiance.
The boy’s father says he intends to pursue a lawsuit against the district.







3 responses so far ↓
1 Denise Thompson // Sep 24, 2008 at 4:52 pm
i think the boy was suspended for a very good reason im in the 12th grade and we are allowed to waer what we want as long as it dose not offend others if me and the young man was in the same class i would be very offend it seems to me that the father is the loony one for backing such a unreasonable idea im in favor of the school he should have been suspened for that careless act there are other ways of expressing your rights but that is not one that we all need
2 Loraine // Sep 24, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I am a fourth grade teacher. I personally would find it a huge distraction to teaching if a student was sitting in my room with a shirt calling ANYONE a terrorist. Of course the shirt is offensive. Of course the boy’s father has an alterior motive for allowing his son to wear the shirt. If the boy was asked to change or turn the shirt inside or risk suspension, & he did not comply, he needed to be suspended.
3 Steve // Sep 25, 2008 at 10:32 am
Well i guess you wouldn’t be too distracted, since the shirt did not call ANYONE a terrorist. It says that Obama is a Terrorist’s best friend. There should never be compliance to any command to silence you, regardless of the consequence. Your voice is the only thing that can’t be stolen, you have to be forced into giving it away.
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