A Las Vegas school district is being sued for allegedly violating the First Amendment after it fired a student who placed a pro-law enforcement sign on campus.
The complaint was filed on May 14 in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada and was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The complaint alleges that NC Minor placed six pro-enforcement signs around East Vocational and Technical College in January, a day after students walked out of class to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and were disciplined.
The signs allegedly include the school’s Titans logo, which reads “ICE Immigration Enforcement Team,” “Border Security Academy Deportation Team” and “ICE Titans.”
The complaint, filed on behalf of the state of North Carolina by his father, George Crossman, names the Clark County School District, East Career and Technical Academy, Principal Jhone Ebert, East Career and Technical Academy Principal Natasha LeRutte and Assistant Principal Thomas Smith as defendants.
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Protesters gathered at 45th and Lamar Streets in Austin, Texas, to protest against ICE after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed on January 8, 2026.
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School administrators allegedly removed the 2-by-2-inch sign before the first bell. NC was questioned and suspended the next day, and later received a limited discharge, the indictment states.
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After her peers in the Clark County School District participated in an anti-ICE walkout on Jan. 21, the student decided to place a pro-ICE sign to make her point. The district and school officials named as defendants in the lawsuit did not stop or punish students who participated in the strike, but instead “facilitated” the demonstrations, the indictment said.
After taking down a pro-ICE sign in North Carolina, school administrators searched his Chromebook and found that searches surrounding Martin Luther King Day included “Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dark Secrets,” “Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination,” “James Earl Ray” and “Tough ICE Pictures.”
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Assistant Principal Thomas Smith allegedly “identified the searches as a racist threat” and NC was called into a meeting in his office, where he allegedly compared NC’s actions to those who put up posters that read “Let’s go white.”
At the end of the meeting, Smith allegedly determined that NC was a racist and that his motivations were racist, and he was immediately suspended, according to the complaint. School officials recommended limited expulsion for a “racially motivated incident,” and the expulsion hearing panel and expulsion review board upheld the expulsion, the complaint said.
In a private meeting between Smith and his father, George Crossman, in North Carolina, Smith allegedly explained that the student’s support for ICE was considered racist “because the majority of the people at the school are Hispanic,” and school officials likened the signs to “burning crosses.”
“Characterizing NC’s actions as ‘racially motivated’ is merely an excuse,” the lawsuit states. “Defendants’ true basis for their decision was their personal, political, and ideological disagreement with the views expressed by the Pro-ICE badge.”
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents patrol the airport.
The complaint alleges school officials violated North Carolina’s First Amendment rights and retaliated against him for making protected speech. It called for a jury trial, damages in excess of $15,000, revocation of NC’s expulsion, and restoration of his good standing.
The Clark County School District said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “CCSD recognizes and respects our students’ First Amendment rights to lawful advocacy and expression for causes important to them. However, the district does not comment on pending litigation.”
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Lerout and Smith did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
Original source of the article: Las Vegas school district sued for allegedly expelling student for pro-ICE sign seen as racist