Young children singing “God Bless the USA” outside a New York school were shouted at by angry adults and told those organizing the event were going to “burn in hell.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, R-N.Y., gathered the students outside Public School 90 in Coney Island whose principal had yanked the singing of the patriotic song at a graduation ceremony, while Justin Bieber’s pop tune “Baby” reportedly remained on the roster.
U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, R-N.Y., gathered the students outside Public School 90 in Coney Island whose principal had yanked the singing of the patriotic song at a graduation ceremony, while Justin Bieber’s pop tune “Baby” reportedly remained on the roster.
“The kids don’t even know what they’re singing!” one of the hecklers yelled as the kids belted out the Lee Greenwood classic at Turner’s event.
“They got something you tell them to say! It’s ridiculous! It’s sad, sad, sad. Y’all are going to burn in hell! You all burn in hell! Shame on you! Shame on you!”
“You Republicans come go to a Republican area and do that, we don’t do that here,” the heckler said. “This is ridiculous, this is sad. This is so crazy. This is sad.”
“Excuse me sir, can you let the kids sing please?” Turner’s staffer interjected.
After the song, the shoutfest continued, and the children themselves tried to drown out the noise of the protesters by chanting in unison, “USA! USA!”
Radio host Rush Limbaugh commented on the matter this afternoon, noting: “A bunch of Democrat adults show up to heckle them. ‘You are all gonna burn in hell! Burn in hell!’ That was the reaction to kids singing God Bless the USA.’ Why in the world would that make anybody mad? And the fact that it does tells us a whole lot.”
The New York Times reported that Principal Greta Hawkins had actually cut both “God Bless the USA” and Bieber’s “Baby” from the song roster at the same time.