Ken Bone, the mild mannered man who rocketed to fame as the red-cardiganed undecided voter at St. Louis’ 2016 presidential debate, says his son was suspended from school Thursday “pending a police investigation” because he tweeted out a photo of the two of them at a gun range.
This comes just a few days after Parkland student Kyle Kashuv was interrogated by security officers in a locked room at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after tweeting a video of himself shooting an AR-15 with his father and an instructor at the gun range.
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) April 21, 2018
Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence …
On Monday, in response to Kashuv’s tweets complaining about being aggressively questioned by armed officers at school, Bone tweeted out a photo of himself and his son Logan at a gun range.
Here's a pic of my son learning to shoot safely under my supervision. Maybe those security guys want to talk to him. pic.twitter.com/tLAfnVJv9z
— Ken Bone (@kenbone18) April 24, 2018
Well, it turns out that some security guys did want to talk to him.
This afternoon, Bone reposted the photo, writing: “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.”
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. pic.twitter.com/tTXSBDo39g
— Ken Bone (@kenbone18) April 26, 2018
Bone said that Logan didn’t know about the suspension until the principal of the school called him at home.
He didn't know he was suspended until I got a call from the principal after school. He was not asked about it at all.
— Ken Bone (@kenbone18) April 26, 2018
What makes this case particularly troubling is that Bone’s son didn’t post the tweet. He doesn’t even have a Twitter account.
Thing is, it wasn't his Twitter. It was mine. He does not even have a Twitter account.
— Ken Bone (@kenbone18) April 26, 2018
In a follow-up to his Monday tweet, Bone explained that his son is interested in joining the Marine Corps so he was teaching him how to safely handle a firearm.
He wants to join the Marine Corps. In the mean time I'm teaching him how to safely handle firearms. I'll always take education over ignorance.
— Ken Bone (@kenbone18) April 24, 2018
Bone told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he talked to a detective with the Belleville Police Department who told him that they would call the principal of Logan’s school in the morning.
Belleville police confirmed that they took a report about the incident.
“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.”
But there is a little more to the story ….
Logan attends St. Clair ROE Safe School in Belleville, Illinois, a high school that provides alternative education programs for “disruptive students.”
Bone told the Post-Dispatch that “his son was expelled from his previous school for bringing a pocket knife to campus, adding that it was a ‘mistake’ and his son hadn’t threatened anyone with it.”
Bone said the reason he posted his original tweet on Monday was to show some support for Kashuv after he got into trouble.
“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 told the Post-Dispatch.
He told the paper that Kashuv is a “good kid that gets a lot of flack.” Bone also said that he supports some “common sense” gun control.
He said he wasn’t upset enough to sue the school, but would like to see things worked out soon so Logan can go back to 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.”
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