Ken Bone's Son Suspended For Gun-Range Photo Posted In Kyle Kashuv's Defense
Ken Bone said Thursday that his son was suspended from the St. Claire County Regional Office Safe School in Belleville, Illinois, over a gun-range photo. Bone, who became an internet sensation during the 2016 presidential debate, had shared the picture earlier this week, not knowing it would land his son in trouble.
Police are now investigating the photo, which shows Bone's son firing an assault-style rifle at a shooting range. Bone in his defense said he shared the two-year-old picture in a show of support for Kyle Kashuv, one of the survivors of the Parkland, Florida shooting massacre.
“He was having trouble with security at his school because he had tweeted some pictures of himself with his father at the gun range,” Bone said. “And I wanted to show my support for him, so I tweeted basically the same photo with me and my son.”
However, school officials did not take the action lightly and decided to suspend Bone's son.
“She (the administrator) said that the caption where I said, ‘The security officers should talk to my son,’ she says that was threatening,” he said, adding that the suspension has caused concerns as he feels his son will fall behind in his education. Also, this is not the first time he’s faced school discipline.
“He took a pocket knife with him to school and he said he didn’t mean to,” Bone said. "It was zipped up in his binder, he got expelled from his old school, which is why he goes to St. Claire ROE now.”
It is unclear as to how long the suspension will continue, but this has been a learning lesson, Bone said.
“Definitely be responsible with what you put on social media. It stays around forever,” he said. “And be really careful with your words.”
The gun-range photo was reportedly shared on social media after Bone was caught in a Twitter exchange between Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and gun rights advocate Kashuv and national security lawyer Bradley P. Moss. An argument erupted over a tweet that Kashuv posted online Monday, in which he claimed to have been “wrongfully questioned” by police for shooting an AR-15 at a gun range.
Bone posted the image again Thursday, saying: “Remember this photo from a few days ago? Well, a school administrator saw it and now my son is suspended from school pending a police investigation.”
Bone made headlines during the second 2016 presidential debate, when the onetime “undecided” voter donned his now-legendary red cardigan on stage asking Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about their energy policies.
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