Catholic students kicked out of Air & Space Smithsonian Museum for pro-life hats: 'We had almost no words'
The Catholic school students stopped at the museum following the March for Life
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A pro-life student is opening up about his shocking encounter at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum after being kicked out with his fellow group of Catholic school kids for wearing pro-life hats.
Student Patrick Murphy told "Hannity" that the group was viewing an exhibit when they were approached by two women, presumably security guards, about their attire.
"They (said), ‘All people wearing a pro-life hat, take it off’," Murphy recalled, "and immediately we're confused."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A student in the group told the women the blue hats reading "Rosary Pro-life" were used for identification purposes to keep the group together, but that the women blew them off.
Pro-life student Patrick Murphy details the encounter at the Air & Space Smithsonian Museum on 'Hannity.' (Fox News)
After walking out of the museum, Murphy said they were approached by a man claiming he had reports the group refused to take off their hats and they were in trouble. After a student reminded him the hats were used to identify the group, Murphy defended his Constitutional rights.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I said, ‘This is a violation of our First Amendment right. This is a government funded building. How are we paying for this with our taxes and I'm not allowed to wear this hat?’," he told Fox News.
The pro-lifers were "blown away" when the man said it was a neutral zone and their rights didn’t apply.
"We had almost no words," the student told Fox News.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The museum responded to the incident saying the actions were not in line with their policies.
"Asking visitors to remove hats and clothing is not in keeping with our policies or protocols," said Alison Wood, the museum's deputy director of communications. "We provided immediate training to prevent a re-occurrence of this kind of incident."
American Center for Law and Justice's Jordan Sekulow told Fox News that legal action is "imminent."
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With the U.S. Capitol in the background, anti-abortion demonstrators march toward the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life, Friday, Jan. 20, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP )
"They said they did a training afterwards. We want to know... about the training before and they didn't apologize to these students," Sekulow said. "They picked on the wrong students, as people can tell from Patrick."
"We're going to get to the bottom of it," he assured, "We're fighting back."