DENVER — Jaiden Rodriguez doesn’t want his Colorado school district to tread on his Gadsden flag or his gun-rights patches.
The 12-year-old middle-schooler filed late Monday a federal lawsuit against the Harrison School District 2 and the Vanguard School in Colorado Springs, arguing that the dress code policy banning his backpack badges violates his free-speech rights.
“Jaiden‘s case is important for all Americans who are concerned about the increasing tendency of public schools to silence points of view that do not fit with the ‘progressive’ political orthodoxy,” said James Kerwin, senior counsel for Mountain States Legal Foundation in Denver, which represents the Rodriguez family.
“Schools should not be taking sides with activists who want to reinterpret everything from the past to put it in the worst possible light,” Mr. Kerwin said Tuesday in a statement.
The Vanguard School walked back its decision in August to prohibit Jaiden‘s yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” patch after a public outcry, but the school continues to ban his other patches, including a Firearms Policy Coalition insignia showing a semi-automatic rifle and three Pac-Man ghosts holding firearms.
In addition, a district official told Jaiden‘s mother, Eden Rodriguez, that the school may again ban the Gadsden flag patch if a student or staff member complains about it, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado.
“The district’s ban on Jaiden’s display of a Gadsden flag patch has been temporarily lifted by school officials,” the foundation said. “However, the district has threatened to ban it again as soon as anyone, including school officials, ‘complains.’ The chilling warning that the district may re-enforce he policy is nothing short of a threat to censor his speech once again.”
The Washington Times has reached out to the Harrison School District 2 for comment.
The incident went viral with the release of a video showing a counselor telling Jaiden and his mother that the flag originated with “slavery and slave trade,” an account disputed by everyone from Democratic Gov. Jared Polis to Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Jaiden, who was pulled out of class and missed three days of school during the flap, has since become a sought-after speaker on the conservative circuit. The seventh-grader is scheduled to appear in February at LibertyCon International in Washington, D.C.
At school, however, other students have “verbally and physically harassed” Jaiden, interpreting the school‘s actions as “a license to mistreat [him].” Some of his patches have been removed during school hours, but the staff has failed to investigate or intervene, the lawsuit said.
“These students’ ire is inappropriately aimed at J.R., rather than at Defendants,” the suit said. “Had Defendants respected J.R.’s First Amendment right to display the patches at issue — which they had done without incident for the prior two years — there would have been no controversy and no harassment.”
In its Aug. 29 statement, the district said the Gadsden flag patch was one of “half a dozen other patches of semi-automatic weapons.”
“The student has removed the semi-automatic patches,” the district said. “As a school district, we will continue to ensure all students and employees can learn and work in a safe and nurturing environment.”
The patches depicting firearms violate the district’s “reference to weapons policy,” but the lawsuit argued that the standard is “unconstitutionally overbroad” and would ban, for example, the Colorado state seal’s depiction of a battle ax.
The foundation said Jaiden has worn the flag and firearms patches on his backpack off and on for the last two years without incident.
“The true reason J.R. has been and is prohibited from sharing pro-gun-rights and pro-freedom messages was that staff at The Vanguard School and the District disagree with J.R.’s points of view, which they find distasteful,” said the filing. “Because J.R.’s political views are deemed antithetical to Defendants’ own anti-gun and pro-government-control views, J.R. was falsely painted as ‘racist.’”
The lawsuit also names Harrison Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel, Assistant Superintendent Mike Claudio and three administrators at the Vanguard School, a charter school.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.