Firearm phobia strikes again, this time in Florida, as a college student who was about to graduate was suspended indefinitely over a photo posted to Facebook showed her with a handgun at a shooting range. The student and single mother is suing First Coast Technical College, the principal, and the assistant principal for violating her First and 14th Amendment rights.
“Everything has just gone down the drain. I really was trying hard in school. I was making A’s,” Dia’mon Dallas said to WJAX reporter Jenna Bourne.
“I can’t get a job and I have a baby I have to support.” A local mom says she was indefinitely suspended from First Coast Technical College over this photo. Watch the full story at 5:30 on CBS47 @ActionNewsJax & let me know if you think the school was right or wrong. pic.twitter.com/raqe5a5NuO
— Jenna Bourne (@jennaANjax) May 23, 2019
According to Dallas, she was at a shooting range with her fiance Anfernee Royster and a military-veteran cousin who was teaching the couple to shoot. The Facebook post by Royster showed the couple posing, holding the firearms with the caption, “She’s my Bonnie and I’m her Clyde.”
Another student reported the post to the school in St. Augustine and subsequently assistant principal Donna Gary-Donavan suspended Dallas, according to the TV station. The school reportedly refused to allow Dallas back into the building to retrieve a crock pot she left in a classroom, as an administrator told her they didn’t know what she might do to other students.
“I can’t get a job and I have a baby I have to support,” Dallas said. “I’ve been out of work long enough and I wanted to do this to be able to provide for my family. And now I can’t.”
Royster said that his Facebook “Bonnie and Clyde” post was not meant as a threat. “What I mean is like, we’re together forever.” And I feel like the main thing was that we were getting stereotyped because of the color of our skin.”
Attorney and Republican State Representative Cord Byrd filed the lawsuit May 14 in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville on behalf of Dallas. He told the news station, “Some people just don’t like guns. They feel threatened by firearms. But that’s why we have constitutional protections, to protect activities that other people might find uncomfortable or unpopular.”
The lawsuit stated the photo and post was a “purely off-campus Facebook communication with friends.” It also indicated there was no connection to a “school-related activity” and therefore does not “interrupt the school environment.”
School officials declined comment because of the lawsuit.
Good for her. This nonsense won’t end until we fight back. Good for her!https://t.co/lWFA8ySRP5 https://t.co/lWFA8ySRP5
— Julie (Hess) Williams (@JulieLWilliams) June 1, 2019
They have a right to bear arms and what makes them scary, because they’re black, schools need to stay in there lane. Mental health is the true evil if not addressed.
— Carlos Valentin (@ckvalentin) May 31, 2019
I totally think the school has over reacted. With that said. Flip flops, a work uniform and a handful of cash is not good common sense on a gun range.
— Ronnie (@1967_ronnie) May 24, 2019
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
- NJ school teacher yells at students she hopes they die ‘painful death’ from coronavirus for playing at park - April 27, 2020
- Trump’s briefing-alternative included bold counteroffensive: ‘No respect for people running Fox News’ - April 27, 2020
- Candace Owens questions next moves in COVID19 strategy: ‘None of this makes any sense’ - April 26, 2020
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!