School Board Bans Pro-Police Flag After Black Lives Matter Complaints

An Ohio School District has taken a hard stance against supporting the police after one high school football team carried a Blue Lives Matter flag before their first football game of the season.

If you think this won’t happen in your community, take notice of what happened in Chardon.

This is a predominately Republican area, yet students are still banned from supporting the police officers who keep us safe. This story highlights the importance of school board elections and knowing exactly who is in charge in our communities.

2012 Mass Shooting At Chardon High School

Chardon Schools owe a lot to law enforcement. In 2012, local police quickly reacted when a mass shooter waged destruction on the high school where the football team attends. Six students were shot and three were killed that dreadful day.

“Blue lives” certainly mattered when they were needed by the community during a time of crisis.

But apparently they no longer matter to the Chardon Schools Superintendent Michael Hanlon. Or to the School Board who canceled support of the police.

The football team carried a “Thin Blue Line” or “Blue Lives Matter” version of the American flag as they stormed the field to show support for a coach who is also a police officer.

It’s a rough time to be a cop and the football team wanted their coach to know they have his back. It was nice gesture for Chardon, which is within an hour outside of Cleveland.

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Black Lives Matter Activists React To Blue Lives Matter Flag

Black Lives Matter activists took aim at the football team on social media after spotting the flag. This caught the Superintendent’s attention and he sided with the agitators against the police and students.

“Given the turbulent times facing our country right now, this action understandably drew responses on social media and direct communications to district officials,” Superintendent Michael Hanlon wrote.

“Based on discussions that ensued over the weekend, it does not appear that this action was motivated by racism, rather a show of support for one of our coaches who serves as a police officer, as well as for the first responders in our community who have developed a special relationship with our school and students in the wake of our school tragedy of February 27, 2012,” he continued.

“Nevertheless, it is understandable how this could be interpreted as a racially-motivated action and, therefore, not acceptable in a school community.”

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Chardon School Board Enact Ban On Blue Lives Matter Flag

There was a lot of outrage from the community over this hard stance against supporting those who put their lives on the line to protect us.

These cries fell on deaf ears as the Chardon School Board backed up the Superintendent’s decision against the pro-police flag. There was no wiggle room on this topic.

The Chardon Police Department posted a response on Facebook. They were inundated with calls of support.

Chief of Police Scott Niehaus, however, took the high road. Clearly, he didn’t want to put the students in a challenging position.

“We certainly recognize that we are blessed to live in a community that graciously supports the stressful job that law enforcement officers do, the very difficult situations that we respond to, and the many sacrifices that are made by our officers and their families,” the Chief’s statement in part posted below reads.

More information about the Ohio school board’s ban of the Blue Lives Matter flag is in the local news story below.

Erin Perri

A mom first and conservative Christian second, Erin credits a midwestern upbringing and deep military roots for her no-nonsense perspective on life and family in America today.