Pro-Trump students at a Pennsylvania high school were stunned to find out that the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan was missing from their signature red caps in the yearbook. The school has apologized for the mishap.
An investigation has been launched by the school authorities to find out who was responsible for the reverse makeover of the MAGA hats. Someone blurred out the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan from the hats in the Littlestown High School yearbook, turning them into plain red caps.’
16-year-old Jeremy Gebhart, one of the two students whose photo was altered, told Fox News affiliate WPMT-TV that he believes the doctoring was the work of somebody who bears a grudge against US President Donald Trump.
“I just think that whoever did this doesn’t like Trump,” the student said.
The original photo was taken in October at a school event and shows two teenagers standing arms crossed and smiling broadly with their MAGA hats on.
Gebhart said that he feels the school had effectively censored his political views.
“Everybody has First Amendment rights, freedom of speech and they are allowed to think what they want and say what they want but they aren’t allowed to take that away from other people,” he said. The teenager’s mother, Lorraine Gebhart, said that she felt “infuriated,” stressing her son was “not doing anything illegal whatsoever.” She accused the school of attempting to “silence” Trump supporters.
The school has denied responsibility, with Christopher E. Bigger, superintendent of Littlestown Area School District, saying that “it is not the policy or practice of the district to improperly censor speech.”
He said the edit had not been spotted during a preview of the book, and made it into the final version by mistake.