Michigan School District Sued For Not Allowing Students to Wear ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ Gear

Two Michigan students sued their school district this week for not allowing them to wear “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts.

The middle schoolers argued that they have a right to protest Joe Biden.

When the school district said the slogan was “vulgar and profane,” the students and their attorneys said that’s nonsense.

And it’s complete nonsense.

Would the school district complain if the students wore attire critical of President Trump?

My hunch says they’d likely be okay with that.

A mother of two students in Howard City, Michigan, filed a lawsuit claiming the public school district violated her sons’ First Amendment rights by asking them to remove sweatshirts with the slogan “Let’s go Brandon” on them. https://t.co/d42BIpLZYG

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 27, 2023

Michigan school district faces lawsuit after forcing students to remove 'Let's go Brandon' sweatshirts https://t.co/JptTAuS3Xn

— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 25, 2023

“Criticism of the president is core political speech protected by the First Amendment,” Conor Fitzpatrick, the students’ attorney, said in a statement.

“Whether it’s a Biden sticker, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sweatshirt or gay pride T-shirt, schools can’t pick and choose which political beliefs students can express.”

The Detroit Free Press reported:

Fitzpatrick, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids against the Tri County Area Schools on behalf of two brothers and their mother who argue the students’ constitutional rights have been violated. The school district is in western Michigan, about 30 miles north of Grand Rapids.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that last year, two brothers wore “Let’s Go Brandon” sweatshirts to Tri County Middle School in Howard City, but an assistant principal and a teacher ordered the students to remove the shirts. According to the lawsuit, the assistant principal told one of the boys that “his sweatshirt was equivalent to the F-word.”

The Hill noted the school district’s argument:

The Tri County Area Schools has previously argued that the “Let’s Go Brandon” gear violated its prohibition against clothing and styles of expression that are “vulgar and profane.”

“The commonly known meaning of the slogan ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is intended to ridicule the President with profanity,” the district said. “‘Let’s Go Brandon’ is a transparent code for using profanity against the President.”

The “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan emerged from a 2021 NASCAR event, in which a television commentator misheard an “F— Joe Biden” chant from the crowd as “Let’s Go Brandon.”

However, Fitzpatrick claimed that the slogan exists as a way to express negative opinions about President Biden without using profanity.

“A public school district cannot censor speech just because it might cause someone to think about a swear word,” he added.

Here’s a hilarious flashback to the moment that started the chant that swept across the country.