Last week during the nationwide walkout, 17 year old Noah Christiansen who attended school in Reno, Nevada,  decided to partake in the activity just like any other person who felt the need to support this political statement.

While most other students spent the time in silence, honoring those who died in Florida, Christiansen used the 17 minutes to reach out to his Congressman, Rep. Mark Amodei, R-NV. He called the office to persuade the congressman to act and vote on stricter gun laws and though the majority of the conversation was professional towards the end of the call, Christiansen let his emotions get the best of him and said the words “congresspeople who are not acting on gun control reforms need to get off their f-ing asses and do something.” The aide who had been on the other end of that phone call must have took offense to the comment because he ended up making a complaint to the school. The school then responded by suspending Christiansen and removing him from his position in the student body government. 

After the altercation it gained notice by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and they sent a letter to the Washoe County School District demanding that high school in Reno overturn the two-day suspension Christiansen was punished with as well as allow him to participate in school activities. The ACLU found this incident to be unconstitutional as the student was only exercising his first amendment right. “It is unbelievable that a constituent should have to worry about voicing his opinions because your congressman’s office might retaliate against you..” as said by the ACLU.

Amodei’s response was that he refused to apologize for the consequences bestowed upon Christiansen as he needed to learn that “words have consequences”. He agreed that the student was using his first amendment rights but he believed the punishment was justified because his aide was using his own rights.

Senior Gabriel Lopez believes that “no one should have their freedom of speech stripped away, no matter what side they’re on” and as for the secretary who complained to the school, “well he shouldn’t be a secretary if he can’t handle people with some attitude”.