This time, no one stopped the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir from Greenville, South Carolina, from singing a rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” that brought thousands to their feet in cheers.
In May, Capitol Police intervened to prevent the choir from finishing the anthem. Amid revulsion over the incident, former President Donald Trump invited the choir to sing at his Friday night rally in Pickens, South Carolina.
And sing they did.
Rushingbrook Children’s Choir sing The Star-Spangled Banner without interruption at Trump’s event in South Carolina. pic.twitter.com/oJQLeMVBMQ
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 1, 2023
The Rushingbrook Children’s Choir has arrived to the Trump rally.
They told us the former President personally requested they sing after their National Anthem performance was shut down by capitol police inside the capitol. @foxcarolinanews pic.twitter.com/9uwfy0Gb3y
— Justin Dougherty (@DoughertyJC) July 1, 2023
David Rasbach, who led the choir during the Capitol incident, said that during the incident he witnessed the female officer talking to a congressional staffer and directing him to “go shut them down.” When they stopped singing, he spoke with the officer and was told that their “demonstration” wasn’t allowed.
Rasbach then reportedly asked the officer: “How do you think this is going to affect these children? Their first time visiting their Capitol and then they have this disappointment.”
“She shrugged her shoulders, saying, ‘They sounded beautiful, but … They can go outside and sing,” he recounted.
According to Rasbach, the female officer went on to claim that multiple people had complained about the offensiveness of the anthem.
Rasbach explained to The Daily Signal that the choir was given permission to sing in the Capitol by Reps. William Timmons and Joe Wilson of South Carolina, as well as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
?The Rushingbrook Children’s Choir sang the National Anthem in Statuary Hall. a Capitol Police officer stopped them mid-song. Capitol Police claims they didn’t stop the choir. The choir director tells the whole story in my exclusive interview here. ?https://t.co/ZRNbWy75la pic.twitter.com/ijiq4pw3X8
— Tyler O’Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) June 2, 2023
“Although pop-up demonstrations and musical performances are not allowed in the U.S. Capitol without the proper approval, due to a miscommunication, the U.S Capitol Police were not aware that the Speaker’s Office had approved this performance. We apologize to the choir for this miscommunication that impacted their beautiful rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner and their visit to Capitol Hill,” Capitol Police later said in a statement, according to radio host Todd Starnes.
However, as far as Republican Rep. Wilson was concerned, once was enough.
Along with fellow Republican Reps. Timmons, Russell Fry, Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman and Jeff Duncan, he introduced legislation that would ban and regulation that prohibits singing the national anthem in the Capitol, barring any interference with government operations, according to a release on his website.
“’The Star-Spangled Banner’ symbolizes the hopes and dreams of our nation, earned through a history of blood, sweat, and tears, so that Americans may be free. Democracy is not easy, but expressing love of our country by singing our national anthem should be easy, particularly in the nation’s Capitol building. I am grateful to join my fellow South Carolina Congressional colleagues in introducing this legislation to allow this beautiful song to be sung, unhindered,” he said.
The bill was titled the “Let Freedom Sing Act,” and while it does not mention the incident directly, it cited the National Statuary Hall, where the incident took place.
“In typical Washington fashion, it literally takes an act of Congress to allow children to sing the National Anthem in the People’s House,” Mace said in the release.
Duncan said the Rushingbrook Children’s Choir should be invited back to the Capitol, so they can finish what they started.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
