She has a class with Bryan Thompson, who’s facing a yearlong suspension after running onto the Stafford County school’s football field in a banana costume during half-time last Friday. He was detained by a Sheriff’s deputy until his mom arrived.

“He’s a nice kid,” Tirzah, 14, said. She called his suspension unfair and said it “didn’t match the crime.”

So on Wednesday, she wore a yellow shirt to school with the words “Free the banana man” written on it. It didn’t take long for an assistant principal to confiscate it, she said.

He told her the shirt was disruptive to the school and disrespectful to administrators.

Thursday, she wore a yellow shirt with the words “Free Speech.” Again, the assistant principal made her change into a different shirt, Tirzah said.

“I just thought that was ridiculous,” she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia seems to agree.

The organization Thursday sent Colonial Forge High School Principal Karen Spillman a letter regarding reports of banned apparel.

ACLU of Virginia Legal Director Rebecca Glenberg wrote that she’s heard students have been told to take off clothing supporting the so-called “banana man.” The school appears to be violating students’ First Amendment rights, she wrote.

“Based on our understanding of the facts, it appears that some students at your school have strong feelings about the discipline of a fellow student, and that they have chosen to express those feelings in a passive, non-disruptive manner,” Glenberg wrote. “We ask that you respect their constitutional right to free speech.”

Stafford schools spokeswoman Valerie Cottongim said in an email that the school division is reviewing the claims in the ACLU’s letter.

She told The Free Lance–Star on Wednesday that a couple of Colonial Forge students had yellow shirts confiscated because they were whipping them around in the school.

Tirzah said a lot of students were wearing yellow on Wednesday, but that it didn’t disrupt her classes.