A valedictorian at a Clayton, North Carolina, high school graduation was pulled off the stage after she departed from her pre-approved remarks to rant about ICE and Palestine.
“Before I leave the stage, I have one last thing to say,” Clayton High School senior Leen Hijaz said during her commencement address on Thursday, according to a Daily Mail report.
“Every single person here has a voice, we have the privilege to use it when millions around the world are struggling and suffering to be heard,” she said. “Whether it’s the millions suffering in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Afghanistan and so many other countries around the world, or the families being torn apart by ICE, these are not distant issues.”
“They are happening right now as I speak,” continued. “My point is, we’re not given a voice to stay silent.”
A video of the incident reportedly shows the school’s principal, Melissa Moore, going onto the stage and pulling Hijaz away by her arm. Hijaz smiled and waved at attendees as she was booted off the stage, before returning to her seat.
The Muslim teen talked to local media and took to social media afterward, claiming school officials threatened to withhold her diploma. She said their reaction made her feel “oppressed.”
“It just hurt so much because we’re allowed three prayers the whole entire speech, but the second I said something and I spread awareness, I was the one getting kicked off the stage,” she reportedly says in the video. “And then she tells me, ‘You’re getting your diploma withheld.’”
Johnston County Public Schools told the New York Post on Tuesday that Hijaz received her diploma.
“During this year’s Clayton High School graduation, a student departed from her approved remarks,” school officials told CBS 17.
“School administrators intervened in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the program in real time,” officials added. “This action was not about limiting a student’s voice, but about ensuring that a school-sponsored event remained consistent with its intended purpose.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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