75 elementary students from Miramar, Florida, were blocked from singing 'God Bless America' on Sept. 11th at a local Walmart store. The store had called the police to respond to a "flash mob situation."
The singing was planned as a prearranged agreement between the school and the Walmart store, but the store had cancelled it after a manager called the choir a "liability". In response, parents and school staff brought the children to sing outside of the store.
A Walmart spokesperson on Wednesday responded "We regret this happened and apologize to the students, parents and the school for this experience. Unfortunately, this was a situation of miscommunication, and it should have been handled differently."
Coconut Palm Elementary School Principal Thelmas said the singing was part of a campaign called "I Will", which was to encourage people to do a public service on 9/11. All of the children in the choir were born after Sept. 11, 2001, not having lived during the tragedy but learned about it in school. The incident at Walmart caused a lot of "confusion and disappointment," said a father of a daughter in the choir.
Walmart's spokesperson added "We're also inviting the kids back to the store to help honor the victims and fallen heroes."
