California Elementary Teacher Sparks Outrage After Flipping U.S. Flag Upside Down with “Abolish ICE” Message

A California elementary school teacher is facing widespread backlash after allegedly flipping the American flag upside down and displaying an “abolish ICE” message inside her classroom.

Bailey Hill Ringer, a first-grade teacher at Audubon Elementary School in San Diego, posted a video of the display on TikTok, where it quickly went viral and accumulated approximately 2 million views before she reportedly deleted it.

Hanging the American flag upside down traditionally signals distress or an extreme emergency, indicating that the nation or its institutions are perceived to be in serious danger or crisis.

Townhall senior columnist Kurt Schlichter described the incident as emblematic of a broader issue, stating on Monday that “Democrat public school teachers — and most of them are part of these giant Democrat unions — have absolutely failed. Kids can’t read, kids can’t think, but they’ve got this kind of ridiculous activism going.”

It remains unclear whether Ringer could face formal discipline. The Libs of TikTok account later shared the school’s phone number in a post that amassed nearly 500,000 views. An Instagram account appearing to belong to Ringer had been deleted by Monday morning.

Ringer is the latest educator to draw backlash amid nationwide anti-ICE protests. Last month, a Minneapolis teacher went viral after engaging in a heated classroom exchange with a student over the fatal ICE-involved shooting of protester Renee Nicole Good, raising her voice and making remarks classmates viewed as insulting. In New York City, a school also sparked controversy after posting a video last Friday showing kindergarten students participating in an anti-ICE protest. The school’s director suggested that the children would have protested outside as well had it not been for freezing temperatures and snowstorms across much of the East Coast.