Dozens of students, parents and other supporters gathered near Edmond North High School on Monday morning in what they called a demonstration of patriotism, unity and freedom of expression.

This was in response to a student’s instruction not to fly the American flag on his vehicle while on school property.

“We are exercising our right to free speech, and there is nothing wrong with that,” said an Edmond North student.

Edmond Public Schools’ decision to tell Caleb Horst, a 12th-grader at Edmond North High School, to remove the flag has been called an attack on patriotism, but the school district says it was never about patriotism to begin with.

Horst posted on Snapchat that the school had asked him to remove the American flag from the back of his truck. “I just messaged people and asked them to support me and raise their flags too,” Horst said.

It spread on the Internet and led to the demonstration on Monday. “I didn’t expect so many people, no. I expected maybe a few boys from school, but not so many people,” he said.

Horst says it all stems from wanting to show his love for his country at school. “I was just confused and a little angry. This is the flag of our country, I didn’t raise a crazy flag. It’s a flag that everyone stands behind,” he said.

The situation even caught the attention of State Inspector Ryan Walters, who posted about the issue on X and recently spoke about it in an interview with News 9.

“We want you to show patriotism in our schools, so we’re looking at this right now and investigating it to find out how in the world the decision could be made to tell a young man to take the American flag off his truck,” Walters said last Friday.

The district said in a statement last week that flying flags on vehicles has always been against school policy and was never a patriotic intention.

However, Horst expressed hope that the demonstration would lead to a change in this policy.

“I just hope they wake up a little and realize that this is not some crazy flag. People fought and died for this flag and we are allowed to fly it,” Horst said.

Edmond Public Schools confirmed that the demonstration caused some traffic delays during student drop-off on Monday morning, but there were no disruptions to school operations after the first period.

EPS has not released a statement in response to the demonstration. You can read the district’s full statement on flag policy here:

“It is standard practice of Edmond Public Schools that students are not allowed to fly or bring flags of any kind onto our school premises. This practice has been in place for several years and is explained to our students at the beginning of the school year along with various other policies and procedures. This is to prevent disruptions and distractions during the school day. It is also done to create a safe school environment as flying flags on vehicles creates safety issues in the parking lot and can cause damage to other vehicles.

To be clear, this is not about the American flag or patriotism. Edmond Public Schools proudly and appropriately displays the American flag in front of each of our buildings and in our classrooms. Not only do we recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning at the start of our school day, but we also present the colors and play the National Anthem at most of our sporting events. All of these things are done appropriately according to flag etiquette.”