MORRISTOWN, N.J. – A second New Jersey high school is facing criticism for censoring images involving President Trump.
Officials at Morristown High School forced junior Liam Shea to remove two pieces of artwork last week that he produced as part of an assignment to create a satirical political cartoon, PIX 11 reports.
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One of the images — a five-foot portrait — depicts Donald Trump as a pig holding a cat in front of a flaming American flag. The other shows Trump riding a rocket while taking a selfie.
School officials initially approved the former for the school’s annual Art & Design Show, but it was taken down Thursday, after only one day on display, the Morris News Bee reports.
Shea’s mother, Kelly Shea, told the news site her son was called to the office by Principal Mark Manning, who allegedly told the student the Trump pig portrait drew complaints and needed to be removed.
Kelly Shea explained the situation in a Facebook post Thursday.
“Liam’s graphic design project has been removed from the MHS design week gallery after the principal received several complaints,” she wrote. “Ah, controversy. Whatever happened to freedom of expression? Isn’t this what art is all about?”
Kelly Shea wrote in a second Facebook post the same day that she was “overwhelmed with the support of Liam’s art”
“Although I was disappointed that the school decided to remove both pieces, Liam welcomed the controversy,” she wrote. “He hold no ill will over the decision and has the utmost respect for the principal and all his teachers at MHS. He has no intention of demanding it be returned to the display or causing any trouble for the school.
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“The reason I posted the image publicly is because it deserves to be seen. Art Is meant to provoke; this certainly did that. I have always been immensely proud of both my children. This is one more reason why.”
Shea told the News Bee “we don’t want to cause any problems.
“There were people bothered by it,” he said.
There were also people bothered by the school’s censorship.
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“I saw it,” MHS senior Nicole Roberts told PIX 11. “I thought it was funny.”
“It’s just supposed to be your creativity and expressing yourself, and by taking it down, it kind of ruined someone’s thoughts,” she said.
“Art is about the way you feel,” junior Carlos Calderon added. “And it shouldn’t matter about what other people think.”
PIX 11 reports every adult interviewed about the censorship thought it was wrong, including 82-year-old Norman Nutt, who graduated from Morristown High School six decades ago and now lives across the street.
“You are allowed to have an opinion,” he said.
School officials, including Manning, superintendent Mackey Pendergrast, ignored several messages from PIX 11 to discuss the incident.
The Morristown debacle follows similar censorship at Wall Township High School, roughly 65 miles away.
School officials there are scrambling to explain to several angry students and parents why references to Donald Trump were scrubbed from the high school yearbook, EAGnews reports.
Junior Grant Berardo noticed last week that his navy “Trump – Make America Great Again” shirt he wore for his yearbook picture was photoshopped to remove the Trump campaign logo and replaced with a plain black t-shirt.
Two other students – a brother and sister at the school – were also targeted with censorship. School officials removed a Trump quote that was supposed to appear below one of the student’s pictures, and photoshopped another’s Trump shirt to remove the reference to the president, NJ.com reports.
Wall Township school officials have since suspended yearbook club advisor Susan Parsons, who collects a $87,950 salary, according to the Ashbury Park Press.
“I don’t have definite answers to all of my questions yet, but I knew enough at this point to get board approval to take that action,” superintendent Cheryl Dyer told the news site Monday.


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