{"id":2428215,"date":"2025-04-28T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/school-suspends-boy-13-for-posting-pic-of-dr-pepper-cans-that-wimpy-libs-dont-like\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T12:10:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T16:10:21","slug":"school-suspends-boy-13-for-posting-pic-of-dr-pepper-cans-that-wimpy-libs-dont-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/school-suspends-boy-13-for-posting-pic-of-dr-pepper-cans-that-wimpy-libs-dont-like\/","title":{"rendered":"School Suspends Boy, 13, for Posting Pic of Dr. Pepper Cans That Wimpy Libs Don&#8217;t Like"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fschool-suspends-boy-13-for-posting-pic-of-dr-pepper-cans-that-wimpy-libs-dont-like%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2428215&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A Missouri school district is facing a lawsuit after labeling a 13-year-old student, identified as W.G., as a &#8220;cyberbully&#8221; for posting a photo of Dr. Pepper cans arranged to look like a rifle on his private Snapchat account from home. The incident occurred in September, and despite no credible threats being found, the school imposed a three-day suspension on W.G. and marked him as a cyberbully in his school records, despite having no prior history of such behavior. The Goldwater Institute has filed the lawsuit, arguing that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cussing-cheerleader-prevails-in-student-speech-dispute-at-the-supreme-court\/\" title=\"Cussing Cheerleader Prevails in ... Speech Dispute at the Supreme Court\">school district violated<\/a> the student&#8217;s freedom of expression rights as protected by the First Amendment. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-court-takes-on-the-administrative-state\/\" title=\"Court handles administrative state.\">case highlights concerns<\/a> about schools overreaching their authority in disciplining off-campus expressions that are harmless.This incident is reminiscent of past cases, such as the 2013 &#8220;Pop Tart&#8221; case, which brought similar scrutiny to school policies regarding student expression. The mother of W.G. expressed her frustration, stating that her son did not pose any threat and questioning the school&#8217;s decision to treat his creative expression as a form of misconduct.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A Missouri school district is being sued for slapping a &ldquo;cyberbully&rdquo; label on a 13-year-old who d a picture of Dr. Pepper cans in the shape of a rifle.<\/p>\n<p>The incident took place in September, when the student, known as W.G., posted the photo to his private Snapchat account from his personal device while at home, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/04\/21\/missouri-13-year-old-suspended-for-making-a-rifle-out-of-dr-pepper-cans\/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=reason_brand&amp;utm_content=auto&amp;utm_term=post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reason<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goldwaterinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Filed-Petition-with-Court.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> filed by Goldwater Institute&rsquo;s American Freedom Network said, he was responding to a theme of &ldquo;can art&rdquo; and also attached an audio file with the words, &ldquo;This is the famous AK-47, with over 50 million manufactured in ten countries, the AK-47 is the most popular assault rifle in the world.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The next day, W.G.&rsquo;s school principal called Riley Grunden to say her son would be searched before entering the school. On the day after the search, Grunden was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/catholic-student-arrested-school-suspension-saying-god-created-two-genders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hauled before<\/a> the school&rsquo;s principal, superintendent, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maryland-parents-demand-schools-defund-school-resource-officers\/\" title=\"Maryland Parents Demand Schools \u2018Defund\u2019 School Resource Officers\">school resource officer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The principal ruled that despite &ldquo;no credible evidence of any danger,&rdquo; the post &ldquo;brought fear to other students&rdquo; and could potentially be seen as a &ldquo;terrorist threat.&rdquo; The school then handed W.G. a three-day suspension and labeled him a cyberbully on his school record, even though he had no history of bullying or cyberbullying.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit said the boy&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/new-california-bill-ban-school-suspensions-willful-defiance-disruptive-behavior\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">freedom of expression<\/a> rights were violated.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is unconscionable &mdash; my son never hurt or threatened a single person,&rdquo; Grunden said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/mom-sues-missouri-school-suspended-13-year-old-son-making-rifle-out-dr-pepper-cans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Instead of using common sense, our own school district treated my child like a criminal for arranging empty soda cans in a way they didn&rsquo;t like,&rdquo; Grunden added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What happened to his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/watch-jasmine-crockett-shows-doesnt-understand-first-amendment-hearing-meltdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">First Amendment<\/a> rights?&rdquo; she asked.<\/p>\n<p>The Goldwater Institute said a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision said schools have minimal power to limit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/8-year-old-girl-38-mask-related-suspensions-appears-school-board-meeting-gets-roaring-applause-defiant-speech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">off-campus speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Dave Roland, director of litigation and co-founder of the Freedom Center of Missouri, said the Goldwater Institute is &ldquo;pursuing this case to turn the tide against a troubling national wave of schools overreaching their proper authority when it comes to policing and punishing off-campus student expression.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;From students suspended for posting memes to punishments for fictional creative writing, schools are <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">increasingly treating ordinary adolescent communication<\/a> as grounds for disciplinary action,&rdquo; Roland said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The consequences extend far beyond individual cases &ndash; each unjust punishment sends a message to all students that their constitutional rights disappear the moment they log onto social media.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleged the Mountain View-Birch Tree R-III School District misconstrued the post &ldquo;in order to justify punishing him for creative expression protected by the First Amendment.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The suit noted that Lana Tharp, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/parents-furious-after-school-official-uses-their-kids-in-photo-to-defend-schools-staying-closed\/\" title=\"Parents Furious After School Official Uses Their Kids In Photo To Defend Schools Staying Closed\">district superintendent<\/a>, at one point said, &ldquo;We have enough information to believe the video has caused fear to at least one student and understandably so. The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority and we responded swiftly to address the concerns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The suit also quoted Tharp as saying, &ldquo;We want to inform you that we have become aware of a rumor circulating on social media regarding a potential threat. Following a thorough investigation we have found no credible evidence of any danger.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit comes 12 years after a supposed gun-related case dubbed the &ldquo;Pop Tart&rdquo; case in which a 7-year-old Maryland student was suspended for two days after chewing his breakfast into the shape of a gun and showing it off to students, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/education\/resolution-years-later-in-boys-suspension-over-pastry-gun\/2016\/10\/25\/6bc337de-96f5-11e6-bc79-af1cd3d2984b_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-apitype=\"text\" data-contentid=\"ZOP6RH3UM5BPHHDKSAIGSKLDCQ\" data-el=\"text\" data-scroll-pos=\"2\" data-scroll-measured=\"true\">&nbsp;&ldquo;It was harmless,&rdquo; father William Welch said in 2013 after the incident took place. &ldquo;It was a danish.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>School officials said they were punishing misconduct, not the shape which the misconduct took.<\/p>\n<p>The case was resolved through a mediator in 2016 after the family protested the suspension and sued. Terms of the settlement were not released.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Missouri school district is facing a lawsuit for labeling a 13-year-old as a &#8220;cyberbully&#8221; after he posted a photo of Dr. Pepper cans arranged like a rifle. The incident occurred in September when the student, referred to as W.G., shared the image on his private Snapchat account from home. According to the Goldwater Institute&#8217;s American Freedom Network, he was participating in a &#8220;can art&#8221; theme and included an audio clip discussing the AK-47 rifle. The following day, W.G.&#8217;s principal informed his mother that her son would be searched before entering school. After the search, W.G. was called into meetings with school officials who determined that although there was &#8220;no credible evidence of any danger,&#8221; his post caused fear among students and could be interpreted as a &#8220;terrorist threat.&#8221; Consequently, he received a three-day suspension and was marked as a cyberbully on his record despite having no prior history of bullying or cyberbullying.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims that W.G.&#8217;s rights to free expression were violated. His mother expressed outrage over how her son was treated for arranging soda cans in an unapproved manner and questioned what happened to his First Amendment rights. The Goldwater Institute pointed out that according to a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, schools have limited authority over off-campus speech. Dave Roland from the Freedom Center of Missouri stated they are pursuing this case to challenge schools&#8217; excessive control over students&#8217; off-campus expressions.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit also referenced comments made by district superintendent Lana Tharp regarding concerns about student safety related to social media rumors but acknowledged no credible threats were found after investigation.<\/p>\n<p>This case echoes past incidents like the \u201cPop Tart\u201d case where another young student faced suspension for shaping food into what resembled a gun; it highlights ongoing issues surrounding disciplinary actions taken by schools against students for seemingly harmless expressions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2428216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dr.-Pepper.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[54200,54199,32364],"class_list":["post-2428215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-dr-pepper","tag-school-suspension","tag-social-media"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Dr.-Pepper.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2428215"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2428219,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2428215\/revisions\/2428219"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2428216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2428215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2428215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2428215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}