'Make America Great Again' hats at center of middle school controversy in Fauquier County
FAUQUIER COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Make America Great Again hats are at the center of a middle school controversy in Fauquier County.
“I just think that whenever President Trump comes into the equation, it just explodes and people, it triggers them somehow,” said Joe Teague, the father of one of the students at the center of the debate.
Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather
It all started last Thursday when Teague and others said students at Marshall Middle School were allowed to donate $1 for the right to wear a hat to class. Teague’s 14-year-old son Logan, as well as fewer than a dozen of his classmates, wore hats in support of President Trump.
The students said they were asked to take them off at lunchtime before ultimately all students were asked to remove their hats. District officials said it was because the hats were causing a “substantial disruption” and “tensions between students.”
“I’m supporting our president. If that were to be a George Washington hat, I’m supporting that president. She wouldn’t tell us to take that off,” one of the students, 13-year-old David Moore, said Monday night.
But those families aren’t the only ones speaking out. A source with knowledge of the incident claims school officials had no problem with the MAGA hats until some, though not all of the students wearing them began bullying Latino classmates. The source said some students were told “go back to your country” as well as other deeply offensive remarks.
Asked whether he was aware of any bullying or discrimination at all, Joe Teague offered an emphatic “no.”
“No bullying. My son didn’t say one word to anybody,” he said. “He wore his hat in support of the President of the United States. I felt that they were just targeted.”
The students denied it too.
“It’s not true,” Moore said.
Logan Teague added, “I think it was just excuses made because they wanted to see us get in trouble because we were wearing Trump hats.”
Ultimately, Logan and David chose to go home early that day, a choice their parents support.
“I want my son, as well other students, to be able to go to that school and support President Trump, the President of the United States. There’s no reason they should not be able to do that,” Joe Teague said.
School district officials declined to answer most of FOX 5 DC’s questions. A spokesperson did say no one was disciplined because of the incident and that school administrators handled it appropriately.