Wisconsin high schooler sues principal who banned T-shirts depicting guns

Matthew Schoenecker likes guns and T-shirts showing guns. But when the freshman wears the latter to Markesan High School, he is told to change, cover them, or spend the day in an isolated cubicle.

So he's exercising some other rights to defend what he calls his First Amendment right to support the Second Amendment — he sued the principal in federal court.

The suit, filed Monday in Milwaukee, names principal John Koopman as the sole defendant. It claims Koopman violated Schoenecker's freedom of expression by restricting him from wearing shirts that depict guns and other weapons in "a non-violent, non-threatening manner."

The suit also contends that Koopman's personal, case-by-case determination of which shirts are "inappropriate" violates Schoenecker's rights to due process.

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Two particular shirts crossed the line for Koopman. One reads "Celebrate Diversity," and depicts a variety of firearms. Another says LOVE, but the letters are formed by a handgun, a grenade, two knives and an assault-style rifle.

Those designs, variations on them and hundreds of other firearm rights-themed T-shirts are widely available on the internet.

Schoenecker is represented by John Monroe, a Georgia-based attorney who has successfully represented many gun owners in Wisconsin. He took the case after a referral from Wisconsin Carry Inc. an advocacy group.

Nik Clark, Wisconsin Carry president, said Schoenecker's parents are members of his group and told him that after the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, teachers were harassing Matthew about the shirts, though he'd been wearing them without incident all year. When the principal got involved and Matthew was sent to the cubicle, Clark said, he asked Monroe to get involved. Wisconsin Carry is paying Monroe, Clark said.

"Schools literally facilitated anti-gun protests, but they're not going to let this kid wear a shirt?"

Clark said he thinks the Markesan community supports gun rights and he doesn't suspect the case needs to drag on long. It seeks only a court order that Schoenecker be allowed to wear the shirts, and the cost of bringing the lawsuit.

While there are no explicit school rules against T-shirts featuring guns, at a meeting last month with Schoenecker and his parents, Koopman explained that he has discretion to restrict clothing at school he deems inappropriate.

Koopman explained that if Schoenecker wore the shirts to school he would be asked to change, cover it or turn it inside out. If he declined those options, he would spend the day in a small, segregated office space and get no instruction.

On Friday, Schoenecker wore the LOVE shirt to school, refused to cover it at a teacher's direction and was sent to Koopman's office, who sent Schoenecker to the cubicle.

The lawsuit claims the Green Lake County high school has never experienced significant disruptions from students wearing non-threatening gun shirts, and that Schoenecker has never made any violent or threatening comments at the school.

Koopman did not return a reporter's phone message seeking an interview about the school's dress code.