Students at Lincoln Memorial Told to Stop Singing National Anthem

'I was taken aback. You wouldn't expect a display of national patriotism to be censored'

A group of students were taking a monument tour of the nation’s capital when they made a spur-of-the-moment decision to sing the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial, but were told to stop by U.S. Park Police.

A group of high school students attending a conservative leadership conference in Washington, D.C. said they were ordered by a security guard to stop singing the national anthem during a June 25 visit to the Lincoln Memorial. 

“They told them to stop singing,” said Evan Gassman, a spokesman for the Young America’s Foundation. “I was taken aback. You wouldn’t expect a display of national patriotism to be censored." 

U.S. Park Police confirmed that the students were in violation of federal law and their impromptu performance constituted a demonstration in an area that must remain “completely content neutral.”