Eagle Scout Facing Expulsion over Gun Charge
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes...un-charge.html
By Todd Starnes
Eagle Scout Cole Withrow was just a few weeks from graduating with honors from his North Carolina high school, but now the active church member is facing a felony weapons charge and a precarious future after accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pickup truck in the school parking lot.
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Most members of the Johnston County community, just southeast of Raleigh believe the 18-year-old is paying far too big a price for an honest mistake. Withrow had been skeet shooting with friends a day before, and only noticed he had left his shotgun in his truck on Monday morning as he reached to grab his book bag, said family friend Kimberly Boykin. When he realized his mistake, rather than leave school grounds, he went to the front office to call his mother for help.
“He didn’t know what to do,” Boykin, whose son is friends with Withrow, told Fox News. “If you jump in the truck and leave, then they get you for skipping school. Once you are there you have to say.
“I think it’s an injustice for this young man,” she added. “He’s a good guy. He’s loved by his classmates and his teachers. You don’t become an Eagle Scout by being a bad seed.”
She said the school district is sending a very bad message to students.
“You teach your kids if you’re in trouble or if you see you’ve done something wrong, go ahead and admit it,” she said. “Be a man and it’ll be fixed. In this case, that’s what he did and he’s being punished for it. That’s not the lesson we need to teach our kids.”Cole Withrow with his sister.
Withrow, who did his senior class project on gun safety, locked the gun in his truck before going to call his mother. But when he asked her to come and take the gun, the trouble started.
“He was overheard in a private conversation with his mother explaining what happened,” Boykin said. “He could have told a story, but he told the truth.”
A spokesperson for Johnston County Schools confirmed to Fox News that they found the shotgun in Withrow’s locked vehicle.
“The law is very clear when a person knowingly and willingly brings a weapon onto educational property,” spokesperson Tracey Peedin Jones said. “The situation was turned over to law enforcement immediately.”
Boykin said he was also expelled for 365 days – meaning that he will not be able to graduate from high school.
“He cannot go back on the campus,” Boykin said. “If that happens he won’t get a diploma. He won’t get to walk across the stage with the kids he’s known since birth. He won’t get to start college in the fall.”
Withrow’s arrest has sparked outrage across this small town, southeast of Raleigh. A Facebook pagehas been launched to generate support for the boy – and students have launched a Twitter hash-tag “#FREECOLE.”
“He is very honest and respectable and would never intentionally try to hurt anyone,” said classmate Kelcie Thomas. “It was an honest mistake and my whole school is backing him up and supporting him fully.”
The Withrow family is not talking to the media on the advice of their attorney – but Boykin said the family is just heartbroken.
“It’s almost like they are in a fog – something so innocent has turned into this big to-do,” she said. “When you try to do the right thing, you get in trouble.”
The school system is standing by their decision.Cole Withrow with is family.
“Administration reacted promptly and the proper procedures and protocol were followed,” Jones said. “The situation was turned over to law enforcement immediately. As a result of our investigation, it is our best determination that students and staff were safe at all times.”
Boykin said the problem is that the laws are black and white.
“There’s no room for gray area,” she said. “There’s no room for discretion for human error.”
While his future remains unclear, Boykin said an encounter last week sums up the character of Cole Withrow.
“The kids got their caps and gowns on Friday and after school a group of them went to a local Mexican restaurant,” she recounted.
“They were being loud teenagers and carrying on – but when the waiter brought their food – the table got quiet. They all bowed their heads and they said the blessing. Cole was one of those kids.”
Boykin said she cried when another mom told her that story.
“They don’t always make the right decisions,” she said. “But I don’t know what other kind of decision he could have made at that point.”
Like many in this town of 1,000 residents, Boykin is dumbfounded.
“Honestly, my heart just broke,” she said. “I know that it was just an honest mistake.”
*Break Break*
Follow up:
http://news.yahoo.com/n-c-high-schoo...201830213.html
N.C. High School Student Arrested for Accidentally Leaving Gun in His Truck Gets Huge (Awesome) Surprise
David "Cole" Withrow has been expelled and received a felony charge for accidentally leaving his shotgun in his truck at school and calling his mother to come pick it up when he realized the mistake. (Photo via "Free Cole"/Facebook)
In a matter of days, North Carolina high school student David "Cole" Withrow's situation has changed dramatically. For one,Liberty University announced Thursday that it will extend a scholarship to Withrow after he was suspended and arrested for accidentally leaving a shotgun in his pick-up truck parked in the school lot.
Withrow, a high school senior and Eagle Scout, had been skeet shooting the day before the incident and inadvertently neglected to store his firearm. Once he realized his error, he immediately locked the gun in his truck and went inside the school to call his mom so she could come pick it up.
But a Princeton High School official overhead Withrow's phone call to his mother and the school promptly called the police. After the gun was discovered in his truck, he was arrested and charged with a felony. The school is not allowing Withrow to return to school of the rest of the year, however, an attorney for Johnston County Schools on Thursday said he will still be allowed to graduate on time by attending an alternative school, WTVD-TV reports.
Now, Liberty University is stepping in to make sure that the high school senior will be able to continue on to college.
"In reaction to the gun control debate in America, Liberty University recently loosened - not strengthened - its concealed weapons policy on campus, and is now providing a scholarship to a North Carolina high school student who was arrested for leaving a shotgun in his pick-up truck in the school parking lot," the school announced in a press release provided to TheBlaze Thursday.
Jerry Falwell, Jr., the school's chancellor, told TheBlaze in a phone interview that he heard about Withrow's story by chance on a local evening news broadcast earlier this week and felt compelled to help. He actually called the student later that night and learned that he wanted to attend Liberty University but couldn't afford it.
Falwell said the school is prepared to "do whatever he needs" to help him complete four years of education at the university. The official terms of the scholarship will be discussed and agreed upon at a later date when the student meets with the school's admissions office, the chancellor added.
"We have a scholarship fund for outstanding students, such as honor students like him. So, because of what he's been through and how he's been mistreated for making an honest mistake...I went ahead and awarded him a scholarship," Falwell told TheBlaze, explaining that Withrow already meets many of the scholarship requirements anyway.
"I think he's a perfect fit for Liberty University," he added. "We will do whatever he needs to complete four years of tuition and room and board."
Falwell said "common sense" should have prevailed in Withrow's case. "I think they were just trying to make a point that guns are evil," he explained. "Our society is just going too far."
Before it was understood that Withrow would be able to graduate by completing an alternative schooling program, Liberty University was also offering to let him wrap-up his high school requirements through their online academy.
Earlier in the day, Falwell released the following statement: "When I reached out to encourage this responsible and impressive young man, I learned that he wanted to go to Liberty University, but couldn't afford it. I told him that we would do whatever he needed so that he can attend Liberty. Anti-gun zealots tried to vilify him for doing the right thing, so Liberty has decided to award him the help he needs to attend a private Christian college. I was really impressed with Cole. He is a humble and meek Christian kid who only wants to do the right thing! We want students like Cole Withrow."
As previously reported by TheBlaze, two school officials had reportedly brought guns onto school property in the past. One, a teacher at another high school within the district, was cited and resigned. The other is actually the assistant principal at Princeton High School where Cole spent the last four years. That person was suspended for three days and still works at the school. Neither case saw criminal charges like those Cole faces.
Liberty University allows qualified students, faculty and staff to carry concealed firearms on campus and in all buildings, excluding residence halls. You can follow Liberty University on twitter@LibertyU.
*Break Break*
Petition for the school to grow some common sense:
http://www.change.org/petitions/scho...at-princeton-2
(busy at work so all I'll say is this sh!t pisses me off!)
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