Parents and Students OUTRAGED After a Fellow Student Gets Detention for Singing the National Anthem

ABC21 obtained cell phone video showing Homestead High School sophomores and juniors singing the national anthem inside the school cafeteria in support of a fellow classmate who received three days detention for doing just that.



As of Tuesday night, nearly 1,700 people - most of them students - have signed an online petition in protest of the school's decision to discipline sophomore William Schweikert.



We sat down with Schweikert and his mother Tuesday afternoon. He says he first sang the national anthem soon after the mass school shooting in Florida - in response to calls for gun reform and professional athletes taking a knee during the anthem.



Schweikert says he sang it again several weeks later, and that's when he was called to the principal's office, who Schweikert says told him, "you shouldn't have done that."



But Schweikert sang it again anyway. This time, it landed him three days of lunch detention.



"So the entire sophomore and junior classes sung the national anthem in my honor," said Schweikert. "Then the next day, all the administrators were in the lunches surrounding the cafeteria to make sure nobody would sing it."



Schweikert's mother Kathy says she understands why the school disciplined her son - agreeing there is a "time and place" to sing the anthem. But she adds she is very proud of her son, his patriotism and his bravery for standing for what he believes in.



We reached out to Southwest Allen County Schools for a comment. A spokesperson refused, saying the district does not comment on individual disciplinary issues.