UNDATED: Jacob Green, a junior at Millennium High School in Goodyear, Ariz., is protesting his school's decision to suspend him after getting into a fight with another student over a Confederate flag on his truck. (MyFoxPhoenix.com)
An Arizona teenager is protesting his school's decision to punish him after getting into a fight with another student over a Confederate flag displayed on his truck.
Jacob Green, a junior at Millennium High School in Goodyear, tells MyFoxPhoenix he was suspended for five days after defending himself against a classmate who confronted him about the flag, which has flown his truck for six months.
"I've done nothing wrong," Green told the station. "I've flown a flag on my truck. Somebody fought me because of it. I didn't fight him."
In an email to parents following the incident, school officials explained that both students were suspended and that Jason was prohibited from bringing the flag on campus.
"Open display -- bringing it in -- it has been proven to be patently offensive to certain groups and the courts recognize that," Agua Fria Unified School District Superintendent Dennis Runyan told MyFoxPhoenix.com.
Jacob said he has researched the flag's history and didn't find it offensive. His parents believe the student who attacked their son committed a hate crime and are considering filing a police report.
"The flag means basically more independence, less government. It didn't mean racism, it didn't mean slavery, it didn't mean any of that," Jason said. "It basically meant what they were fighting for was their right to be independent and not have the government control them."
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