Ken Bone's son suspended from school after he tweets photo of him practicing at a gun range
Ken Bone, endearingly known to the Internet as the "red sweater guy", said that his son was suspended from school on Thursday and is now the subject of an investigation by law enforcement authorities for a photo that shows him practicing with an assault-style rifle at a shooting range in his neighborhood, reported the River Front Times.
Bone had posted the photo earlier in the week after he saw a Twitter war between national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss and Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and gun rights advocate Kyle Kashuv.
Kashuv had tweeted on Monday claiming that he had been "wrongfully questioned" by authorities for shooting an AR-15 at a gun range and sharing the footage of the same online. On Tuesday, Bone gave his two cents on the issue.
Bone posted the same image again on Thursday with an update about the probe into his son's activities. “Remember this photo from a few days ago?” Bone tweeted.
He said that he had spoken to a detective with the Belleville Police Department. The detective, Bone says, told him that they would call the principal of St. Clair ROE Safe School, where his son Logan studies, the next morning.
“I’m not sure what the school wants investigated,” Bone said Thursday evening. “There’s no threat to the school — the picture is over a year old.”
Bone rose to prominence after the 2016 presidential election when he donned his now-famous red cardigan on stage for a debate question, asking both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about their energy policies. Bone, who had once said that he was an "undecided" voter, informed that he had a conversation with his son's principal about the suspension. However, he didn't reveal details about his conversation out to the public.
He also added that his son was totally oblivious to the fact that he was suspended until he got a call from the principal after school hours. “Thing is, it wasn’t his Twitter. It was mine,” tweeted Bone. “He does not even have a Twitter account.”
Bone's claims spread like wildfire on social media this Thursday.
School officials said that they do not have the authority to comment on ongoing investigations or student discipline until the issue is settled. According to the school's website, St. Clair ROE Safe School is an institution for students who are "expulsion-eligible."
Previously, Logan had been expelled for bringing a pocket knife to campus. He said that it was a "mistake" and that his son had not threatened anyone with it.
Talking about the original tweet of the photo, Bone said that he wanted to put it out there that Kashuv is a “good kid that gets a lot of flack." He also added that he himself does support some “common sense” gun control reforms.
“I just wanted to tell (Kashuv), you didn’t do anything wrong, you were learning to shoot with your father, I do the same thing with my son,” Bone said.
There were quite a few Twitter users who pushed Bone to sue the school, but Bone said that he didn't want to take such drastic measures. His only hope is that his son is cleared of any doubts so that he can go back and attend school.
“I’m glad they’re looking out for the safety of the kids, but this seems like something that could be settled with a phone call or a meeting with school officials,” Bone said. “The photo was taken before he even went to that school. He hasn’t done anything wrong or illegal. And it was said by me, so there’s no reason to punish him for it.”