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Mom sued the Missouri school for suspending his 13-year-old son after arranging a can of Dr. Pepper in the form of a rifle and posted a photo of creating on Snapchat.
“This is unconscious – my son never injured or threatened one person,” said Riley Grunden, a student’s mother, who is called WG, she said in a statement Published by the Goldwater Institutewho represents a 13-year-old.
“Instead of using common sense, our own school district treated my child as a criminal for decorating the empty cans of soda in a way they didn’t like it,” Grunden added. “What happened to his First amendment rights?”
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Riley Grunden sues the Missouri school for suspending his 13-year-old son for making a rifle from a can of Dr. Pepper and then posted a photo of creating on Snapchat. (Photo: Kindness Riley Grunden and Goldwater Institute)
WG posted a photo of Dr. Pepper Cans on Snapchat with a sound called “AK47”, which had a musical rhythm with a voice saying: “This is a famous AK47, with over 50 million produced in ten countries, AK47 is the most popular rifle in the world.”
After the post, which was made of school terrain, WG’s things were searched on September 16, 2024, and after that she suspended the Mountain View-Birch R-III school district for three days. Grunden met with the supervisor and director on September 17, 2024.
The school reportedly constantly recorded its school records that he participated in “Cyberbulating”.
In a statement for Fox News DigitalLanna Tharp, Mountain View-Birch Tre R-III, a school district supervisor, said: “The school quarter is aware of a recent lawsuit. Unfortunately, because the lawsuit includes a student, we are significantly limited in what we are legally allowed to share publicly. For now, we can only say that we have legal advice to present.
WG posted a photo of Dr. Pepper on Snapchat. (Photo: Kindness Riley Grunden and Goldwater Institute)
Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit April 10, 2025, stating that the school district and school district of Mountain View-Birch and school officers misinterpreted WG’s post “to justify him to punish him for a creative term protected by the first amendment.”
Goldwater Institute claims that because of the USA Supreme Court 2021 Decision in the Mahanoy School District against BL, schools have a narrow amount of the power of speech control that was thrown outside the campus.
They also emphasize the protection of the Missouri Freedom Constitution in Article I, Section 8, which gives Missourian the right to “communicate everything he wants on any topic”, for which the Institute says that “clearly expresses a creative expression like this soda can be an artistic project in a protected activity”, in April 15, 2025. publish About the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Tharp allegedly said: “We have enough information to believe that the video has caused at least one student and understandable. The safety and well -being of our students is our main priority, and we quickly responded to solving the problem.”
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Riley Grunden with Son, WG (Photo: Kindness Riley Grunden and Goldwater Institute)
This, despite the fact that Tharp also allegedly said: “We want to inform you that we have become aware of the rumors circulating on social media regarding a potential threat. After a thorough investigation, we have not found credible evidence of any danger.”
The aim of the lawsuit is to clean the WG record to prevent the school from taking further actions against students regarding the photo by Dr. Pepper Cans. He also asks the court to declare the actions of the school district unconstitutional.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Dave Roland, director of litigation and co -founder of the Missouri Freedom Center, he said that the Goldwater Institute “followed this case to turn the tide against a worrying national wave of schools that took the right authority when it comes to police and punishment of students outside the campus.”
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Through Goldwater’s American Network for Freedom Pro Bono Lawyer, Dave Roland, Director of A Council and Co -founder of the Missouri Freedom Center, Marc Elllinger and Stephanie Bell, partners at Ellenger Bell based in Missouri, represent WG
“From students suspended for publishing memory to a penalty for fictional creative writing, schools are increasingly treated with ordinary adolescent communication as a basis for disciplinary actions,” Roland added. “The consequences extend far beyond individual cases – each unjust punishment sends a message to all students that their constitutional rights disappear the moment they apply for social media.”
