Smithsonian Museum Kicks Out Students Over What They Had on Their Hats: Attorney
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum may soon find itself in legal troubles after security at the museum allegedly forced a group of students to remove their pro-life hats.
Located in Washington D.C., the National Air and Space Museum prides itself for having “the world’s largest and most significant collection of aviation and space artifacts.”
Some of their notable pieces of history include the 1903 Wright Flyer and the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.
A group of students came to visit the museum last month while they were in D.C. to take part in the Jan. 20 March for Life Rally, an attorney told WYFF-TV.
The 12 students and chaperones from Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina, were reportedly stopped by a museum security guard, who told them the museum was a “neutral zone.”
The guard reportedly told the group that they weren’t allowed to wear their pro-life beanies in the museum and instructed them to either remove their hats or leave, WYFF reported.
My daughter just called from DC a dozen kids from Greenville just got kicked out of the Air & Space Museum for wearing Pro Life hats.They were told to remove their hats or leave. Daughter told man they had to wear to find each other in crowd. KICKED OUT for refusing to remove! pic.twitter.com/5RSJp2ccGi
— Move to South Carolina (@KihneSheila) January 20, 2023
The attorney — from the American Center of Law and Justice — said that parents are now planning on taking legal action against the museum.
“They should be allowed to wear the hats that they were wearing and to be able to express themselves,” one parent, Nora Luz Kriegel, told WYFF. “And I felt it was very wrong that this person harassed them.”
According to WYFF, Kriegel has two children currently attending Our Lady of the Rosary — a school located in Greenville County of South Carolina.
Her children did not attend the pro-life rally in D.C., but Kriegel still feels the students who were kicked out of the museum should have been “treated with respect” as they were “standing up for human life. For the most innocent human life,” WYFF reported.
“I just don’t understand at all in my being how anybody could look at something that says ‘pro-life’ and say that that is something that is offensive to them in any way, shape or form,” Kriegel told WYFF.
A spokesperson from the National Air and Space Museum responded to the incident, telling WYFF that it is routine protocol to ask visitors to remove hats and clothing that may violate museum policy.
Correct. A woman had a pride mask on and was not asked to leave.
— Move to South Carolina (@KihneSheila) January 20, 2023
The museum added that they “provided immediate training to prevent a re-occurrence of this kind of incident, and have determined steps to ensure this does not happen again.”
A similar incident went viral last month after a video appeared to show security officers at a Minnesota mall ordering a man to remove his “Jesus Saves” shirt.
I automatically assumed this was overseas, but it’s right here in America. pic.twitter.com/Q79eUCG7xh
— John Mason (@LivingGodsTruth) January 12, 2023
In the video, a security officer is heard telling the man that “Jesus is associated with religion” and that he needs to wear something else because “it’s offending people.”
While the man noted that he “didn’t say anything” and “just went to Macy’s,” other reports found that he had previously been kicked out of the mall for preaching.
Security then told the man: “You can take the shirt off and you can go to Macy’s and you can do your shopping. Or you can leave the mall, OK? Those are your only options right now.”
The video ended with the security officer explaining that his shirt violated the mall’s rules on “religious soliciting.”
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