A group of concerned citizens is protesting a Michigan high school Friday following its decision to suspend four students who staged a peaceful counter-protest at a school-sanctioned pro-immigration event.

“We’re carving out an hour to stand in solidarity with those students. We have to show them that they’re not alone… we all know it was politically motivated,” Karen Machiorlatti, one of those protesting the school’s decision, told LifeZette.

“Of course they’re going to be attacked … They think it’s their right to attack conservatives — they’ve been told for eight years it is their right.”

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The suspension of the four Grand Rapids High School students was reported on Thursday. The students say they got into trouble for displaying signs last week that read “Trump,” “Trump Train,” and “Build the Wall” in front of a pro-immigration banner which read “immigrants are a blessing, not a burden.”

While the pro-immigrant banner was sanctioned by the school, the four students’ protest clearly was not.

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“To be clear, the students were not disciplined because of having expressed their political viewpoint,” Grand Rapids Christian School Superintendent Thomas DeJonge said in a statement sent to local news. “Rather, they were disciplined because of the disruption they caused and disrespect they demonstrated toward fellow students and staff.”

“The boys did not create havoc by doing what they did,” DeJonge continued. “It was what was following where there became a disruption and aggression and disrespect to students and to staff and faculty.”

But the four suspended students tell a very different story, which would indicate that they were not at all responsible for the disruption and aggression of which DeJone wrote. “The four say that upwards of 50 other students came at … them, threatening them with violence,” reported West Michigan’s Fox17.

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They “were simply trying to support the president of the United States,” one parent told local television station WZZM13. “Why are they bringing this political nonsense into the school [in the first place]?” another parent asked.

“Of course they’re going to be attacked,” said Machiorlatti. “This filters down to young children,” she told LifeZette. “They think it’s their right to attack conservatives — they’ve been told for eight years it is their right.”

Critics of the decision vowed to make a bigger issue of what they see as a dangerous trend of trampling the free speech rights of conservatives.

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“It’s going to be about 20 of us [protesting],” said Machiorlatti. “We’re coming from all over Grand Rapids … [Some are] coming from over half an hour away to do this,” she said.

“We have to get out there and support them,” Machiorlatti continued. “If you don’t stand up now, you’ll never have the right to stand up.”