Picture of American Flag Upside Down and Flying Below a Mexican Flag at a California High School-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
Several pictures said to be from Montebello high school in Montebello, California, that show students raising the Mexican flag with an American flag flying below it and upside down. The email also includes commentary about the future of American, but the main feature of the email is the pictures of the flags.
The Truth:
The pictures are true. They were taken at Montebello high school on Monday, March 27, 2006. The students were part of a walkout aimed at influencing Congress, which was debating immigration policy and the potential of cracking down on illegal immigrants in the country. Although the flag-raising took place at Montebello high school, officials of the Montebello Unified School District were quick to point out that the protesters were not students from Montebello high school. Assistent Superintendent Robert Henke said the high school was under a lockdown and all the students were in their classrooms. He said that the 800 to 1000 students were from neighboring school districts such as the El Rancho Unified School District and the Whittier Union High School District. They marched to Montebello high school, lowered the flags, replaced the school flag with a Mexican flag, flew the U.S. flag upside down, and stole the California flag that had been on the pole.
Updated 4/19/06