US high school students persecuted for anti Iraq war action

This video is called Iraq War Protest – March 21st 2003 – Chicago.

By Kristina Betinis:

Chicago-area high school students face expulsion for antiwar sit-in

Students who participated in a peaceful antiwar sit-in last Thursday, November 1, at a Chicago-area school are facing disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion. The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday urged officials at West Morton High School, in the working-class suburb of Berwyn, to reconsider the suspensions and possible expulsions of more than two dozen students, calling the penalties “grossly disproportionate to the alleged offenses.”

Students and parents have reacted angrily to the decision of the school superintendent Ben Nowakowski, who threatened 19 students with expulsion and 16 others with varying terms of suspension for staging a protest against the Iraq war. Such harsh penalties are typically reserved for weapons offenses, gang activity, bomb threats, and distribution of controlled substances.

Internet petition for the Morton West students: here.