CENTENNIAL, CO –-(Ammoland.com)- A Colorado high school student posted a picture with her brother, who served in combat overseas in the US Army, to the photo-sharing app Snapchat and was then suspended from school.
Photos shared by users on Snapchat are only supposed to last 24 hours, but the straight-A student would find out that on the internet, any picture can come back to haunt you.
The photo in question showed the student holding a Glock handgun and her brother who served in special operations holding a Palmetto State Armory PA-15 modern sporting rifle while flipping off the camera. The family was getting ready to go to the range. The teen is an avid shooter who shares her love of guns with the rest of the family and often goes to the range as a family.
The caption on the shared photo reads: “Me and my legal guardian are going to the gun range to practice gun safety and responsible gun ownership while getting better so we can protect ourselves while also using the first amendment to practice our second amendment.”
Officials at the senior’s high school saw the photo, and it set off a chain of events that would shock her family. The Endeavor Academy, which is part of the Cherry Creek School District, decided to suspend Keyes for five days.
The caption didn’t convey a threat. In fact, it talked about responsible gun ownership and self-protection. Keyes’ mother, Kelley Moyer, told AmmoLand that her daughter didn’t think she did anything wrong. Her mother can’t understand the school’s decision to suspend her child.
The school notified Moyer of her daughter’s suspension via a generic email. The email didn’t give an exact reason for the suspension but stated the school could suspend students for behavior on or off school property that is detrimental to the welfare, safety, or morals of other students and faculty.
The email also threatened Keyes with arrest for trespassing if she stepped foot onto school property during the time frame of her suspension. Moyer believes that the school is treating the honor student that dreams of working in the medical field as a criminal. She worries that this suspension will threaten her applications to colleges.
Moyer met with school officials to find out what the exact policy was that her daughter that got her suspended from school. The Endeavor Academy verified that there wasn’t an exact rule that she broke, but they chose to suspend Keyes because she was photographed with an “assault rifle.”
According to Moyer, the school told her, “When we see a picture of a 17-year-old holding an assault rifle, it sends panic through our building.”
Moyer tried to explain to the school that there was not an assault rifle in the picture. She also tried to explain to the school that her daughter wasn’t even holding the rifle. It was her son who served in the army holding the rifle, but she didn’t see why that would make a difference since there wasn’t a threat made by her daughter.
She asked why the school had an issue with the guns in the picture. The officials declined to explain their thinking. They did say that several parents kept their kids out of school because of the scare that the school officials started over the picture.
The Cherry Creek School District supports the Colorado Safe-2-Tell anonymous snitching program where unknown individuals can file false claims against anyone they want to harass with no penalty.
Local law enforcement investigated and found that there was not a threat made by Keyes and that the teen didn’t break any laws. Law enforcement considers the case closed. According to the police, the situation is now just a school’s administrative issue.
Keyes is also a student-athlete. She played on the school’s varsity volleyball team. The suspension forced her to miss the team’s championship game. The hardships do not stop there for the high school student taking college-level classes.
There was the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia in the picture. The confederate flag flown in the background has drawn the ire of some of the other students at the Endeavor Academy who view the flag as offensive. These students now refer to Keyes as a racist and have levied death threats against the student-athlete.
“She is receiving death threats,” Moyer told AmmoLand. “They are saying the only thing we can do about it is get restraining orders.”
Moyer sees this as an attack on the Second Amendment. She told AmmoLand she feels this is a demonization of guns because her daughter has never threatened anyone.
“This is like a red flag law,” she said. “They assumed she was dangerous because of a picture of her with a gun before going to the range. It just isn’t right.”
The Endeavor Academy said the social media post “concerned the school community” but would not elaborate on why the picture justified the suspension.
The AmmoLand team read through all 92 pages of the Cherry Creek School District’s discipline policy and could not find a policy that Keyes violated.
About John Crump
John is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC, and is the co-host of The Patriot-News Podcast, which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement, including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on leftist deplatforming methods and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, on Facebook at realjohncrump, or www.crumpy.com.
I agree with Sage49.. This article states that the school officials cannot give an explanation why this student was actually suspended for something that didn’t happen on school property. The policer investigated and found that no violation of the criminal laws . yes it is an administrative matter to be handled by the school. Sadly this may hurt this young girl’s ambitions in her future. The school officials mislabeled the rifle as an” assault rifle” which isn’t. This girl’s free speech was violated. She mentioned of practicing gun safety at a range with her legal guardian. yes the school officials… Read more »
“This article states that the school officials cannot give an explanation why this student was actually suspended”
That may well be a good thing and take liability away from the school and taxpayer paid settlements and place responsibility at the feet of the hoplophobic officials who deserve financial hardship.
@Justista, The school district has deeper pockets than the individuals. The school district will be the defendant.
What has started out as a cold, ideological argument is fast warming up and becoming a real fight. Then, it’s on to war.
Sue the school and all individuals involved for civil rights violations. Hold them PERSONALLY responsible for the poor decisions they make.
If there were civil rights violations, then the US DOJ should be investigating and prosecuting them for that, not just a civil suit.
In a world where justice prevailed you’d be correct. However, to find your answer you need look no further than the comments of Jeff Sessions, when he became AG, to wit: there will be no prosecution of top officials of the previous Administration. That gives you some idea of where the chances of the “average” citizen lie.
which is precisely WHY Jeffie’s Session is Over. And good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.
Get a good lawyer and make them PAY a lot.
Definitely get a good 2A lawyer and sue the school and administrators for violating her Constitutional rights.
“When we see a picture of a 17-year-old holding an assault rifle, it sends panic through our building.”
Gee,I bet if she had posted a picture of her and President Trump she would have been executed.
Oh dear. You wrote the “T” word. Now, I’m all triggered and paranoid. You must be a racist.
Sounds like the school staff has studied AWB of 2019. That bill would have legally classified a glock pistol as an “assault weapon”, and as with most anti-gun people – “assault weapon” is synonymous with assault rifle. Won’t be long before they start calling slingshots “assault rifles” as well.
What if she had posted a picture of herself and the president at a gun range?
A multi-million dollar lawsuit for defamation of character and violation of civil rights might make schools rethink their liberal agenda.
I agree. The Far Left Loonies have, for years, sued for every slight they believe they’ve endured. It’s time to turn the tables and cost them $$$, and lots of them. Cost them so much that they never even think of doing something like this again. These suits must not only be against the entity (school board) but the individuals themselves. However, it can’t stop with one case, Conservatives must sue every single time freedom of speech is denied. It’s sad but it appears to be the only thing they understand.
School officials will not pay anything, only tax payers will be forced to pay any damages awarded. As damages need to be awarded by a jury, I imagine defense would have little difficulty finding juries open to argument that school was only slightly over zealous in efforts to prevent another mass school shooting. It is important to realize that much of the public believes school shootings are common, and that ARs are used for the majority of violence in this country. I suspect that fraction of people (in USA) who have never touched a firearm is significant and growing –… Read more »
Time to take the school administrators to COURT for DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER. Time to take the school board to court about the PERSECUTION of a student. Time to REMOVE the administrators while this FAKE FIASCO is settled.
Layer up and nail the School administrator.
The communists have successfully taken over the eastern slope of Colorado.
The elections in November will prove that point.
The governor said he wanted Colorado to be just like California.
This article should be posted all over the state and maybe the truth about the intentions of the communists in this state would become better known. I don’t know if it would effect the elections but it might help people become more intelligent about what is going on.
The parents need to do a freedom of information request of the school board meeting that the board held to vote on this young lady’s case, if they did indeed vote, those are the people who need to be sued along with the school district in question.
If no vote was held then go after the superintendent and school principal as one of them had to make the decision to kick this girl out.
More shoddy reporting – the NAMES of the “school officials” are conspicuously absent from this story. Sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant, and NO public employee – including a “school official” – should be allowed to hide in the shadows by remaining unnamed in stories about their abusive official misdeeds.
Proof of our education system’s failure. These card carrying communists have no problem expressing their interest in, and showing their anti-country mentality, all the while, using schools to brainwash, and corrupt the young away from American values. Yes, those that initiated this needs to face hearings on such subversive propaganda..
Point of order; the school system nor does the school have the legal authority to designate what a kid does off school property or time. Can you say huge law suit?
looking from the outside in on this incident, I can see a lawsuit in the schools future and a very big payout to this young lady.
The lawsuit needs to be personally directed at the people making these decisions. Otherwise the taxpayers will be paying for their incompetence & hysteria.
The school board’s response, to said school administrators, should be, “You have exposed this school district to unlimited liability and legal fees. Your services are no longer required.”
This IS tyranny. This IS an example of a “red flag” law. This IS discrimination of the 2A and the 1A in a pure sense. I expect there is going to be a new millionaire as soon as the girl, her mother and her brother take their case to court. In the meantime a civil case is possible against the school and their policies and “leadership”. I also believe the case and the outcome should be televised on national T.V. This might give the socialist/communist/demoncrapic left the idea that their ideals and tactics will not be tolerated. Treason is just… Read more »
Get a good lawyer. Cherry Creek has deep pockets and they deserve to be picked for this asinine BS !
Typical of what the Public schools in this country have become. They only “teach” the politically correct curriculum and revisionist history. The schools no longer teach children how to think, but instead teach them what to think, and this is a prime example of the failure of Public education in the USA.
Every gun owner in that community should have their kids post gun photos on social media in defiance of this discriminatory behavior on the part of the school.
The left is using these tactics to push gun owners to not discuss, share or promote responsible gun ownership. This is done to drive down the number of gun owners for current and future generations.
This is what happens when communist leftists take over schools or anything else. They can do whatever they please without any reason and with complete annonimity. Their ability to attack someone with whomever they disagree with is nothing short of an agenda to eliminate Constitutional rights. These vipers disguised as public servants have made it their mission to mandate policies as they go and facts are what they say they are. These people have entrenched themselves for years and are starting to reveal themselves openly and arrogantly as evidenced by this article. These so called educators are attacking the Constitution… Read more »
We could call the school & express our concerns. This may deter the next time ?
the school told her, “When we see a picture of a 17-year-old holding an assault rifle, it sends panic through our building. Tell that administrator to grow up, grow a pair, and stop wetting his pants in public. First, that is NOT an “assault weapon”. Civilians can’t own them for some inane reason. Second, if a PICTURE taken in that context can “send panic through OUR building” (WHO paid for that building, Bonzo?) he’s got far bigger problems than an honour student who happens to enjoy the First American Sport on her own time, away from school, and together with… Read more »
It would be nice if ALL public school students could be suspended for showing their honest belief in American liberty and self-determination. Then we could close the empty public schools and look for real ways to educate young folks, instead of always paying more and more taxes to have a bunch of leftists turn our young into snowflakes and keep them in “safe spaces.”
I would have liked to have that school admin pantswetter at an event where I helped instruct a group of thirty people in rifle marksmanship and gun safety, along with a good dose of the history of how we became a nation by “inviting” the British tyrannical overlords to board ships at Yorktown and sail back home to England. The folks “on the line” ranged in age from seven (yes, SEVEN YEARS OLD.. he was safe, listened, followed instructioins, learned, enjoyed himself, and got better through the weekend) Probably two thirds of the rifles on the ine are defined by… Read more »
I’ve noticed over the past three years being involved wiht the above programme that more and more individuals are opting for the “NO PICTURES” category. Incidents like this, more frequent in that last time period, might ezplain why. The paranoid “woke” eedjits are out in force, and will set up a wailing and howling if anything “touches a nerve” in their “pweshus widdow sykees”.
Fight fire with fire.
Use there own snitch program and report the school administration.
As well as l other students.
From story,
The Cherry Creek School District supports the Colorado Safe-2-Tell anonymous snitching program where unknown individuals can file false claims against anyone they want to harass with no penalty.”
This is another zero tolerance idiotic school administration decision.
A 1A & 2A lawyer should be all over this and sue the school officials responsible for $$$. Law enforcement should also be looking for anyone that threatened her with death threats and if they’re students she should Safe-2 SWAT them as well to ensure they are suspended and charged with threatening to do her bodily harm.
It is Denver, Co. Need one say more?
@USA, If what you say is true, then what, specifically, did you buy, today, to help you survive it?
Her free speech right was violated.
Very simple, change the liberal asshats in the school district that make these decisions. another democrat way of doing things, avoid laws you don’t like and make them up as you go. I would think a lawsuit would be in order here.
I suggest everyone email the school’s posted addresses and let them know how much of a disappointment their emotional grandstanding is to the community they operate in. Let the school know how ashamed they should be. Let the school know what you think about the school violating their own published “Honor Code” that stresses responsibility, integrity and empathy.
Where were any of those values in their actions?
https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/cms/lib/CO50000184/Centricity/domain/2431/about%20us/ENDEAVOR%20ACADEMY%20HONOR%20CODE.pdf
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Cherry Creek School District
4700 S. Yosemite Street
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303-773-1184
The school describes itself as an “alternative educational opportunity”, some sort of remedial facility.
And Jeff Sessions wants his old Senate Seat back in 2020; thinks he did a good job and no one can do it better.
Effing idiot administrators! This is what’s going on in our schools. They demean the 2A and even abuse the 1A to do so. They should be sued and forced to issue a public apology. The scared parents need to pull their heads out of……………….the sand.
Greetings, After reading this article I was startled to find that schools have gone so far left that they can suspend a student for absolutely no reasonable cause. Not against policy? Correct. Not against the law? Correct. Activities completely away and separate from the school? Correct. “Ok, I just don’t like this so let’s make an example here.” It sounds like this is a personal thing the administrators are doing under the cloak of authority provided by their employment. If a police officer arrested people for things that were not against the law they would be fired. Maybe there needs… Read more »
Where is my post?
NOTE: This inquiry is for you, Ammo Land.
@Wraith, If you think that it will benefit us, then post it again.
Although I agree that those responsible for this travesty should be held accountable, I have to admit that the photograph was in extremely bad taste.
There is something about the 1st Amendment that says it’s protected speech. Just look at what ANTIFA and the rest of the Democrats/Communists are doing.
As a rule of thumb, tasteful speech which agrees with popular opinions – rarely needs to be protected. First amendment is there to protect speech in opposition to popular opinions, and in order to do so must also protect our right to express ourselves in methods absolutely devoid of good taste.
At the time, a picture of Rosa Parks would have been in EXTREMELY BAD TASTE most places in the South, particularly those maintaining a “two tiered” version of society.. TWO lunch counters, TWO bathrooms, TWO kinds of churches, TWO drinking fountains, TWO sections of the bus, TWO…… in a place where we claim to be ONE NATION under God…… Every kid in that, and any other Colorado (or any of the other 49 states) who ever use firearms, need to go out and create equally “extremely bad taste” images of themselves with their guns, enjoying their lawful use. Take a… Read more »
That is exactly the kind of free speech the first amendment was designed to protect. Images that make everyone feel all warm and fuzzy inside need no such protection. If I were her parents I would lawyer up and sue the commie rat fucks. Colorado is going right down the same shithole as kalifornia because of all the carpet baggers infiltrating our state from both coasts, and bringing their backward leftist views with them. And places like cherry creek, Aurora, fort Collins and boulder, are loaded with these assholes. It used to be a great state, but now…