Substitute teacher on camera tearing into eighth-grader about thin blue line American flag face mask

A substitute teacher was caught on camera as he berated a teenager who was wearing a thin blue line American flag face mask.

Lucas Lillar, 13, who is in the eighth grade at Lyman Gilmore Middle School in Grass Valley, California, near Sacramento, was filmed by another pupil as a substitute teacher reprimanded him in front of the class for wearing the cloth mask.  

‘That’s not the American flag, that’s the new confederacy flag,’ the teacher can be heard yelling while Lucas attempts to defend himself.

Lucas Lillar, 13, was yelled at by a substitute teacher in front of his class for wearing a thin blue line face mask at a middle school near Sacramento. The teacher crossed his arms describing it as the 'new Confederacy flag'

Lucas Lillar, 13, was yelled at by a substitute teacher in front of his class for wearing a thin blue line face mask at a middle school near Sacramento. The teacher crossed his arms describing it as the ‘new Confederacy flag’

The teacher scolded him telling him it was the 'new Confederacy flag!'

Interaction caught on camera by other students who recorded on their phones

The teacher scolded him telling him it was the ‘new Confederacy flag!’ The interaction was all caught on camera by other students who recorded on their phones

‘It’s the thin blue line’, he says. 

‘No, it’s black, white with some blue line in it,’ the teacher goes on. 

‘It’s the thin blue line,’ Lucas repeats once again.

‘Yeah, but it’s not American!’ the substitute teacher argues back. 

The encounter was all caught on cellphone video which Lucas then showed to his father and stepmother, who are both police officers.  

‘I was extremely angry and heartbroken, that this… that he had to deal with it,’ his stepmother Amanda McCallum told CBS News. 

Lucas was similarly shaken up by the incident: 'I never had someone talk to me like that, yell at me in my face, especially a teacher.

Lucas was similarly shaken up by the incident: ‘I never had someone talk to me like that, yell at me in my face, especially a teacher.

Lucas wears the mask because his dad and stepmom are both police officers

Lucas wears the mask because his dad and stepmom are both police officers

‘These topics need to be left at the door. The school is meant to educate our children in a safe environment and I don’t feel like this was a safe environment, but it needs to be. We are entrusting these people of authority, these teachers with our children,’ McCallum said. 

‘We are in a time where we are so divided that we need to learn to be kind and respect each other.’

Lucas was similarly shaken up by the incident, saying: ‘I never had someone talk to me like that, yell at me in my face, especially a teacher.

‘I was confused at that time because I didn’t know what he was talking about.’ 

His parents went to the school principal to demand an explanation. The substitute teacher has been let go and will not be teaching any further classes at the school.      

Lucas said he wore the mask to support law enforcement in general, but also for his family members who both work in law enforcement.    

'I was confused at that time because I didn't know what he was talking about,' Lucas explained

‘I was confused at that time because I didn’t know what he was talking about,’ Lucas explained

Lucas and his stepmother shared their story with local Sacramento television station

Lucas and his stepmother shared their story with local Sacramento television station 

Grass Valley School District Superintendent Andrew Withers says the school’s board is now looking further into the incident. 

‘The California Education Code 44953 allows for the immediate dismissal of a substitute teacher. Our district expects all educators to perform their duties with utmost respect and professionalism.’

The thin blue line flag has been around since 1922 when New York Police Commissioner Richard Enright used it as part of a public relations effort. 

Recently, the symbol has come to represent opposition to the racial justice movement. 

The thin blue line flag has been around since 1922 as part of a PR effort by police but the flag was hijacked by white supremacists who flew it after George Floyd's death in 2020

The thin blue line flag has been around since 1922 as part of a PR effort by police but the flag was hijacked by white supremacists who flew it after George Floyd’s death in 2020

The symbol gradually gained popularity particularly by those in law enforcement and supporters of the police.

But in recent times, white supremacist groups have hijacked the symbol and began flying the thin blue line flag, agitating those it was supposed to promote.

‘The blue line represents police who are holding the line between chaos, crime, civil unrest, and the peace of the public. The symbol has never been one of hate, white supremacy, or any other form of criminality,’ explains Law Enforcement Today. 

‘Sadly, political activists’ groups, like Black Lives Matter, equate the symbol as one of hate and racism. They and those with their line of thinking demand that the symbol be wiped out of existence which has led even some police department’s banning the thin blue line.’

source: dailymail.co.uk