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Aurora fifth-grader suspended for Obama ‘terrorist’ T-shirt

Alan Gathright
Rocky Mountain News
Vail, CO Colorado
Javier Manzano/The Rocky Mountain News Daxx Dalton ,11, and his father, Dann Dalton, talk about the Aurora fifth-grader being suspended from school for wearing a homemade T-shirt that said "Obama a terrorist's best friend."
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AURORA, Colorado ” An Aurora fifth-grader says he’s been suspended from school for wearing a homemade T-shirt that said “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.”

Eleven-year-old Daxx Dalton and his father, Dann Dalton, say his First Amendment rights were violated.

Citing student privacy, Aurora Public Schools spokeswoman Paula Hans said she could not discuss specifics of the Dalton case, including confirming whether the boy had been suspended.



“We are not able to comment on an individual student’s disciplinary issue,” the district said in a statement. “We thoughtfully and consistently enact student discipline when needed.”

“Aurora Public Schools respects a student’s right to free speech, such as the right to wear specific clothing. In fairness to all students, we would review a situation that is distracting or that interrupts the environment where students are learning,” the statement concluded.

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Daxx says he was given a choice of changing his shirt, turning it inside-out or being suspended, and he chose suspension.

Dann Dalton told Fox 31 News, which first reported the story, that he is considering a lawsuit.

Dann Dalton is no newcomer to free speech controversies.

The father took his two children in a stroller to a 2000 anti-abortion protest outside the Arapahoe County home of a doctor who provided abortions, according to a Rocky Mountain News story.

Neighbors in the normally quiet cul-de-sac at the time complained about weekly protests with abortion foes waving signs declaring “Don’t Kill Kids” and calling the doctor “murderer.”

Arapahoe County commissioners passed a law limiting demonstrations in residential neighborhoods ” requiring protesters to keep moving and restricting the size of their signs.

Dann Dalton said the restrictions had only boosted the protest crowd.

“Hopefully we’ll have Greyhound bus tours through the area before long,” he said at the time.

During a 2003 Colorado Capitol protest supporting the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Dann Dalton was quoted shouting “Bomb Islam” toward anti-war protesters, according to a Denver Post story.

The Associated Press contributed to this report


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