High school indefinitely suspends football players for carrying Thin Blue, Red Line flags

quote:

---

According to WKRC-TV, Little Miami High School in Morrow, Ohio, opted to suspend Brady Williams and Jarad Bentley after they expressed their support for first responders before a Sept. 11 football game.

Brady, a senior cornerback whose father is a police officer, said that he was not trying to make a political statement at all in carrying the Thin Blue Line flag.

"I was just doing it to honor the people that lost their lives 19 years ago," he said.

Jarad — whose father is a firefighter — carried the Thin Red Line flag and told WKRC that he was thinking about his father at the time.

---

quote:

---

The station reports that Brady and Jarad requested permission from the school ahead of time, but were reportedly denied.

---

quote:

---

Superintendent Gregory Power told the station that he was sticking firmly to the decision.

"We can't have students who decide to do something anyway after they've been told that they shouldn't be doing it," Power said, arguing that the apparently divisive flags were symbols of political controversy.

"We did not want to place ourselves in a circumstance where another family might want a different flag to come out of the tunnel, one that may be [one that] many other families may not agree with from a political perspective," Power reasoned.

---