Riley Grunden is suing Missouri’s Mountain View-Birch Tree R-III School District over the suspension her son received for posting a photo of Dr. Pepper cans arranged in the shape of rifle.
Reason Magazine noted that Grunden’s son, W.G., took a photo of the cans at home on September 14, 2025, and posted it on social media. “The post was accompanied by a trending audio file, titled ‘Ak47,’ which includes a voiceover saying, ‘This is the famous AK47, with over 50 million manufactured in ten countries. The AK47 is the most popular assault rifle in the world.’”
The school principal called Riley Grunden on September 15, 2025, to note that a parent had complained about the photo and that W.G. would be searched upon arriving at school the next day.
Although the search did not turn up anything posing danger, school officials believed the social media post “brought fear to other students” and, therefore, could be viewed a a “terrorist threat.” W.G. was subsequently suspended for three days.
FOX News reported that the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit over the suspension, claiming W.G.’s post was misinterpreted “in order to justify punishing him for creative expression protected by the First Amendment.”
The Goldwater Institute pointed to the Supreme Court’s Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021) decision, noting that a school’s ability to control speech is greatly limited when that speech is occurring off campus.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: [email protected].
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