REPORT: School suspends Marine hopeful after American flag law controversy

April 28, 2025

For ads-free news, click here.

From Fox News: The Baltimore County Public School system has allegedly suspended a high school student after he pushed his school to hang American flags in two of his classrooms that did not have flags displayed, as required by state law.

Parker Jensen, an 18-year-old Marine Corps enlistee, has since sued the school district, arguing he was wrongfully suspended for voicing his concerns about the flags at Towson High School, north of Baltimore. The flags were missing from two of his classrooms, and he approached the Baltimore Board of Education about the issue.

“He really thought there’d be something that could be resolved easily, and he was looking forward to finishing out his senior year,” Jensen’s attorney, Sarah Spitalnick, told Fox News Digital. “He’s definitely discouraged that the school took this route in the way they retaliated and punished him. And it did… put a big damper on his senior year. At this point, he’s still not allowed to go to prom. … He still has teachers that he knows do not like him. That could affect his grades and affect his ability to graduate.”

The issue began in February, when Jensen — also the quarterback and captain of the Towson High School football team — noticed that two of his classrooms were missing American flags despite the fact that Maryland state law mandates that flags need to be in all public school classrooms.

On March 28, Jensen visited the school board’s office in person during business hours to file a formal complaint about the missing flags, and recorded the experience, as there were no signs against recording and it was a public place.

A supervisor ordered him to stop recording, and called the cops. Five police officers responded to the scene, and claimed that he must be a credentialed journalist to record in the school board’s building. The officers then escorted him out.

It gets even more bizarre, as the school principal reportedly called Jensen’s mother, claiming her son was acting “unhinged,” “disrespectful,” and was “‘impersonating a journalist,’ and would be arrested and suspended.”

The high school senior was then suspended until April 8.

Jensen noted that although he “was suspended and trespassed unlawfully, had my character unfairly defamed by my administration,” there was also a positive side to the experience, as he added, “I believe my persistence in standing up for patriotism may have opened others eyes to the importance of patriotism in our school systems.”

WATCH THE VIDEOS BELOW:

Parker Jensen, a Baltimore County Student and Marine hopeful, was suspended after he tried to get answers about why his school was violating Maryland law. Jensen’s school, Towson High, did not have an American flag in every classroom – as is required. Now, Jensen has hired an… pic.twitter.com/2fNQkx5SJU

— Project Baltimore (@Project_Bmore) April 8, 2025

Every Maryland classroom, by law, must have an American flag. But Parker Jensen says some of his classrooms did not. And when he tried to learn why, he was suspended from school.

PROJECT BALTIMORE: https://t.co/XLuVlGo4kE pic.twitter.com/os5IIwKhdV

— FOX Baltimore (@FOXBaltimore) April 8, 2025