Our Rights Are Now Irrelevant
In April of 2013, a 14-year-old teen from West Virginia named Jared Marcum was suspended from school and arrested for wearing a pro NRA tee shirt. The Logan City Police Chief claimed that Jared’s behavior almost caused a riot and the police threatened to charge him with making a terroristic threat. The surveillance video showed that the police chief’s claim of starting a riot was unfounded and the notion that Jared was making a terroristic threat was also without merit. As it was reported, Jared was receiving this type of harassment from the school and the police department when he was not in violation of the school’s dress code.
It appears that a teacher took offense at the NRA tee shirt that he wore and demanded that Jared turn it inside out. When Jared refused, that’s when he was taken to the office and the police were called. When Jared refused a second time to turn the shirt inside out and told the school officials and the police that he didn’t violate any rules, the police arrested Jared and charged him with disrupting an educational process and obstructing an officer. He never was put in jail but brought to the precinct and his mother was called to pick Jared up and take him home. The actions of the school and the police in their attempt to trample on his 1st amendment right to express support of the 2nd amendment did not deter Jared from wearing the exact same shirt to school the following Monday.
Here is an update on this case.
Jared Marcum appeared before a judge in June and was charged with obstructing an officer. If convicted he will face a year in jail and pay a $500.00 fine. The court documents claim that when Jared refused to stop talking, he hindered the officer’s ability to do his job. By Jared telling the school officials and the police that they were violating his first amendment right to free speech he was obstructing the officer when he refused to sit down and shut up when the officer ordered him to.
So, here we have a 14-year-old kid who violated no dress code, is protected under the first amendment and is facing possible jail and a fine for his lawful actions one Friday at school. This is our new America; where our rights that are endowed to us by our creator are deemed irrelevant by the government workers. It would be disturbing enough if this could be looked upon as an isolated incident but there are more and more kids who are being harassed by the schools and police and they’re innocent of any crime. The frightening part is if the schools and the judicial system can do this to our children, what will stop them from doing this to us after going through our phone records, Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc.? This story just shows that the saying, “If you’re not guilty you have nothing to hide.” is a fallacy. The government will deem you guilty and will disregard your rights in order to make an example of you whenever the need arises.
Jared Marcum isn’t guilty of obstructing an officer; he’s guilty of standing up for his rights, which is something that has become a sin in America, especially if your views are not politically correct. The IRS harassment scandal has shown us that we better learn our place or suffer the consequences. The frightening thing is our ability to address our grievances is slowly being taken away. If a judge is willing to entertain such a frivolous case as the one presented against Jared Marcum, are any of us safe?
