9/11 Memorial Officials Apologize After Security Guard Stopped Kids from Singing National Anthem
April 26, 2016| by Donn Marten
http://downtrend.com/donn-marten/911-memorial-officials-apologize-after-security-guard-stopped-kids-from-singing-national-anthemA security guard at the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan set off a firestorm of controversy after intervening to prevent a chorus of children from singing the Star Spangled Banner. The incident took place when the overzealous rent a cop told the North Carolina middle schoolers that they were not allowed to sing the national anthem on the premises unless they had a permit. The incident quickly went viral and is another example of the crushing jackboot on the neck of Americans by the forces of the nanny state to which political correctness is akin to a national religion. The memorial bosses quickly engaged in damage control, issuing a statement apologizing for the actions of the guard.
As reported by Reuters in the story “Guard was wrong to silence school choir, 9/11 Memorial says”:
A security guard who stopped a middle-school choir from singing the national anthem at the September 11 memorial in Manhattan acted inappropriately and the students are welcome to come back and sing the anthem, a memorial official said on Monday.
Fifty-one choral students led by their teacher from Waynesville Middle School in North Carolina started signing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the National September 11 Memorial in New York last week when a security guard stopped them because they lacked the required permit to perform.
The sixth- to eighth-graders, who generally range in age from 11 to 14, stopped immediately, even though another security guard had orally granted them permission.
Although the rules require a permit, which takes 10 business days to process and carries a $35 fee, it was still appropriate for middle-school students to sing the national anthem at the site, where more than 2,700 people died in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a spokeswoman for the 9/11 Memorial said.
“The guard did not respond appropriately,” spokeswoman Kaylee Skaar said. “We are working with our security staff to ensure that this will not happen again. We reached out to the school to express our regret for how this was handled and asked the principal to share that with the students.”
The children have been invited back but the damage has already been done. It’s a pretty sad day when enforcing the petty and arbitrary rules of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Gestapo regime are used to shut down free expression, especially at a site that memorializes those murdered by Islamic maniacs in the worst terror attack in American history. But hey, with Emperor Obama visiting the kingdom to grovel at the feet of King Salman and working to suppress those “28 pages” that implicate high level Saudis in the 9/11 attacks what else can be expected?
