Two Ohio high school students have been awarded scholarships after being briefly suspended from their football team for carrying flags onto the field during a game on September 11th.
Two Ohio high school students have been awarded scholarships after being briefly suspended from their football team for carrying flags onto the field during a game on September 11.
The Little Miami students, Brady Williams and Jarad Bentley, had been told by the school district to not bring flags on the field. But they did it anyway.
Two Little Miami football players pay the price for civil disobedience. They were told not to carry onto the field thin blue line and thin red line flags at their 9/11 game. They did anyway. The school has now suspended them from the team indefinitely. #ThinBlueLine #ThinRedLine pic.twitter.com/19y9GAvaxr
— David Winter (@DavidWinterTV) September 14, 2020
Williams, who is the son of a sheriff’s deputy, carried a “Thin Blue Line flag” and Bentley, who is the son of a fireman, carried a “Thin Red Line Flag” onto the field. The school later suspended Williams and Bentley from the team.
On Tuesday, the Little Miami Board of Education said it understood the students’ desire to “show their support of our first responders on the anniversary of 9/11” but because they did not obtain permission from school officials to bring flags onto the field, they had been suspended.
An Important Statement from Little Miami Board of Education. pic.twitter.com/E2fpHsJfnM
— Little Miami Schools (@LM_Schools) September 15, 2020
Despite the students’ “insubordination,” the board concluded that their actions had not been politically motivated and overturned their suspension.
“Moving forward, Little Miami is returning the players to active status and this matter will be addressed as an Athletic Department Code of Conduct issue, with any potential consequences to be handled by coaching staff,” the board said in a statement.
On Friday, a local non-profit group called “Holiday for Heroes” said it is awarding Williams and Bentley a scholarship for their statement, WJAC-TV reported.
“Brady and Jarad are true PATRIOTS, they did something last Friday that showed they are far beyond their years,” the group said. “These men stood up for a cause they believe in. As they took the field with flags in hand it reminded us how we felt 19 years ago, heartbroken yet strong and united.”
The group has not disclosed how much the scholarships will be worth.
Sources: Fox News: Ohio Students Given Scholarships