[
, LET]GRASS VALLEY, CA – A 13-year-old whose father and stepmother are police officers was publicly humiliated for wearing a thin blue line face mask by a substitute teacher in California.
After being made aware, the school has advised they have barred the teacher from returning to the school.
The teenager, identified by his parents as Lucas Lillar, reports that while attending a class at the Lyman Gilmore Middle School in Grass Valley, a substitute teacher started hounding him over his thin blue line face mask.
Most of the interaction between the substitute teacher and Lillar was recorded by students’ cell phones.
Videos obtained by CBS show the teacher tearing into Lillar over his use of the facemask.
The teacher is heard telling Lillar that the mask was not the American flag, but rather the new version of the Confederate flag. He can be heard saying:
“That’s not the American flag, that’s the new confederacy flag.”
Lillar wears the mask not only to support law enforcement in general, but specifically as a sign of respect for his father and stepmother who are both police officers. Lillar, who was upset over the situation, said:
“I never had someone talk to me like that, yell at me in my face, especially a teacher.”
Lillar’s mother, Amanda McCallum, spoke to CBS about the incident, saying that she was heartbroken.
“I was extremely angry and heartbroken, that this…that he had to deal with it.”
McCallum went to the school and met with the principal about the incident. The principal allegedly told her that the teacher, who has not been identified, would not be allowed to teach at Lyman Gilmore school any longer.
CBS reached out to Andrew Withers, the Grass Valley School District Superintendent who confirmed in an email that the school board is investigating the allegation. In the email, he noted that they could not comment on the case:
“The California Education Code 44953 allows for the immediate dismissal of a substitute teacher. Our district expects all educators to perform their duties with utmost respect and professionalism.”
The thin blue line is a symbol for law enforcement that has been in existence since 1922 when former New York Police Commissioner Richard Enright used it as a public relations effort. The saying, and the symbol, slowly took traction from there and has been widely adopted by those in law enforcement and who support the profession.
The meaning behind the thin blue line is simple. The blue line represents police who are holding the line between chaos, crime, civil unrest, and the peace of the public. The symbol has never been one of hate, white supremacy, or any other form of criminality.
However, after the death of George Floyd in 2020, there were some white supremacist groups that were seen flying the thin blue line flag.
Regardless, equating those groups with law enforcement is beyond a disservice to all the men and women who wear a badge.
Sadly, political activists’ groups, like Black Lives Matter, equate the symbol as one of hate and racism. They and those with their line of thinking demand that the symbol be wiped out of existence which has led even some police department’s with banning the thin blue line.