A North Carolina high school’s football game has been cancelled following national outcry over the school’s cheerleading squad being put on probation all for posing for a picture with a “Trump 2020” banner before a game.
The theme of the game was “America Night,” but apparently the North Carolina High School Athletic Association thought it was inappropriate for the students to take a picture with a banner supporting our country’s president.
Local residents in the North Carolina town had planned a rally before the football game that has just been cancelled to show their support for the cheerleaders.
The high school district cited safety concerns as the reason for the cancellation of the football game.
Here’s the Stanly County Schools announcement of the game’s cancellation on their Twitter page:
The county sheriff, however, doesn't seem to know what the supposed "safety concerns" are about.
Needless to say, many are suspecting that the real reason the football game was cancelled was to punish Trump supporters and to keep the rally in support of the cheerleading squad from happening.
However, if this was the real reason, it didn't work!
The rally went on as planned, despite the game being cancelled!
Fox News has more to say about the decision to cancel the football game just days after the cheerleading squad was put on probation:
A North Carolina school district nixed a Friday night high school football game because of security concerns, days after cheerleaders there were placed on probation for unveiling a pro-Trump banner.
Stanly County Schools said it canceled the North Stanly High game because it had received "additional information that could compromise safety measures our schools have in place for sporting events.”
The district did not specify the nature of that information.
The decision comes after cheerleaders at North Stanly, in New London, N.C., posed for a photo of holding a banner that read “Trump 2020 Make America Great Again" before an Aug. 30 game.
The Stanly News & Press reported that it was “American Night” at the football game, and students were encouraged to wear red, white and blue.
The locals are now even more resolved to back up the students at North Stanly High School for their support of President Trump!
On this, The Charlotte Observer stated:
Ahead of a planned rally to support a cheerleading team on probation over a pro-Trump photo, a North Carolina high school has canceled its Friday night football game due to security concerns.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association previously placed the cheerleaders on probation over a picture that was taken of them in uniform with a Trump 2020 banner during a football game. Some community members, who feared the teens’ First Amendment rights were being infringed, had planned to wave a large flag with supporters before the game Friday.
The district said it canceled the North Stanly High School football game because “Stanly County Schools has been notified of additional information that could compromise safety measures our schools have in place for sporting events.”
“There was no threat,” Jeremy Onitreb, one of the rally organizers, told McClatchy news group in response. “Nobody’s coming up there to hurt the kids. It’s not what this was about.”
When asked if the rally would still take place, Onitreb didn’t hesitate.
“You’re damn right it is,” he said.
“The next rally is going to happen out at the NCHSAA offices,” he added. “Que Tucker is next, we’re coming for her job. Until she decides to resign, we’re taking this fight to her.”
Tucker is the commissioner of the NCHSAA, a position she has held since December 2015.
The NCHSAA was quick to clarify the probation was not a form of punishment, as the association “has not defined the terms of the probation,” the Charlotte Observer reported. The team is also expected to continue cheering, according to district officials.
Onitreb and his co-organizer Jay Thaxton created an event on Facebook for the rally shortly after the NCHSAA’s decision was made public. More than 200 people had RSVP’d by Friday afternoon with an additional 1,300 marking themselves “interested” on the Facebook event page.
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