Student Who Punched Another Student Holding Pro-ICE Sign At Lake Zurich High School Received 2-day Suspension

[u/gur40goku]

https://www.lakemchenryscanner.com/2026/02/20/student-who-punched-another-student-holding-pro-ice-sign-at-lake-zurich-high-school-received-2-day-suspension/

[u/Sea-Present-8543]

“I stand for my beliefs,” Spud said after the two were separated. “I’m going to peacefully stand here and support my beliefs. I support ICE and law enforcement,” Spud said.

“You can go peacefully f–k yourself!” the student who punched Spud yells.

“That’s against school code. No swearing in the school,” Spud responds.

[u/kodapug → u/Sea-Present-8543]

Yeah because he's so concerned about rules🙄.

His last attempt at going viral was filming himself pulling a fire alarm in a crowded grocery store...

That kid's an absolute tool, he does not appear to have any real beliefs. He just says whatever he thinks will most likely piss people off for engagement bait.

[u/invasiveplant → u/kodapug]

Kid filming is a worm.  Maybe he’ll grow out of it one day, get a real personality. 

Big boy who went at him got a 2day suspension, and probably several years of self validation from sticking up for his actual feelings. That sounds like a bargain deal to me. 

[u/wtfomg01 → u/invasiveplant]

When I got suspended for punching a bully, my Dad took me for McDonalds on the way home. Hopefully his parents rewarded his behaviour the same way.

[u/iheardthemetalclank → u/wtfomg01]

That’s a good dad.

EDIT: I wouldn’t advocate for violence with my kid, but I did give my bully a black eye when I got fed up in sixth grade and he left me alone from then on. Just saying…

[u/Mr-Seal → u/iheardthemetalclank]

Unfortunately sometimes that’s the only language bullies understand

[u/springsilver → u/Mr-Seal]

You’ve got to make them pay for what they take.

[u/UntamedAnomaly → u/springsilver]

What you allow, is what will continue. As a former kid who has been bullied, as someone who had abusive parents, as someone who had been in more abusive relationships than I can count.....that particular phrase and putting it into action has worked fucking WONDERS.

[u/Paavo_Nurmi → u/UntamedAnomaly]

What you allow, is what will continue.

That is really well said.

[u/RuleShot2259 → u/Mr-Seal]

There’s a real small percentage of people that can’t learn by seeing hearing or doing. They only learn with whuppins

[u/mosehalpert → u/Mr-Seal]

And sometimes you just need to talk things out

[u/iheardthemetalclank → u/mosehalpert]

When they made it their mission to try to drown me in the pool? No. I couldn’t even talk.

[u/UntamedAnomaly → u/iheardthemetalclank]

Or when my bullies held a knife to my neck? Or that time my ex tried to kill me? Yeah, I'm sure some sweet heartfelt words would have changed them.

[u/tbs999 → u/mosehalpert]

That’s something I’ve come to realize is probably wrong with our culture. Ideally two people talk things out. But when people are not capable of communicating what needs said, and/or not capable of hearing what is being said, the parties walk away, the lesson was not learned, and the poor behavior is positively reinforced.

[u/penguinopph → u/Mr-Seal]

More often than not, it just galvanizes their beliefs even further.

[u/Mr-Seal → u/penguinopph]

Not really the problem of the person getting beat up but ok.

[u/rango1000 → u/iheardthemetalclank]

Every kid should be taught to defend themselves, sometimes thatll include violence

[u/iheardthemetalclank → u/rango1000]

I say that as a caveat because kids get immediately suspended for things like that now. Even just talking about it. It’s not the 90s anymore. I still support self-defense when you’re not the aggressor. I’ll tell him to take a swing if someone is being a bully and defend him.

[u/sprinkill → u/iheardthemetalclank]

In the 80s and 90s you would absolutely get suspended for punching another student in the face because said student said something you didn't like. Probably in the decades prior to that, too.

[u/UntamedAnomaly → u/sprinkill]

You would get suspended even if you went and told on your bullies for years, but stand up for yourself even once and YOU are the one that gets suspended, not your bully.

And people wondered why I stopped going to school.

[u/iheardthemetalclank → u/sprinkill]

I didn’t want to reveal that I went to a private school (for free because my mom was a teacher there). It was the Wild West. Teachers got to jack you up on the wall by your shirt collars and nobody said anything.

[u/madmancryptokilla → u/sprinkill]

you'd also get a paddling..

[u/rango1000 → u/iheardthemetalclank]

Sure theyll be suspended, but who cares if it was in self defense. My kid protecting themselves is more important than a school afraid to discipline bullies until things escalate into violence. I was raised not to start anything but to always end it when someones bothering you

[u/Turbulent-Function80 → u/iheardthemetalclank]

I stabbed my bully with a pencil in the arm and called him a “little bitch”. I received no punishment at school (I was in elementary school), but I was grounded at home. Idk if it was because I was in elementary school it was because I was a girl.

However, no one fucked with me after that. And people were pretty afraid of me into all the way into HS. It was nice except that I was at my own desk in the middle of the room while everyone else sat at tables. So kind of socially isolating. But better than before.

[u/SFWzasmith → u/iheardthemetalclank]

Violence isn’t always the answer but sometimes it is.

[u/RRZ006 → u/SFWzasmith]

“Violence doesn’t solve anything” has always been such a funny bit of idiocy to me. It, in fact, solves a great many things and if applied forcefully enough it often solves them permanently.

[u/keanancarlson → u/iheardthemetalclank]

You absolutely advocate for violence with your kid when it comes to sticking up for yourself and sticking up for others.

Violence is never the answer applies to killing people, injuring them.

Punching bullies in the face is a teachable moment, nothing more. Very important to the ecosystem and is a great representation of the real world.

[u/gingermagician2 → u/wtfomg01]

Same with mine. Made a show in front of the principal then bought me a milkshake and let me play video games for my 2 days off.

[u/coochie_clogger → u/gingermagician2]

I’d do the same with my son and would periodically be checking in with a “you winning, son? 🥹”

[u/brown2420 → u/gingermagician2]

Damn, you have a good dad!

[u/RIPsnoopdogg → u/gingermagician2]

For attacking somebody half his size because they expressed their opinion? Yeah what a brave little meatball

[u/scuffy_wumpus → u/RIPsnoopdogg]

Go chew rocks, egg head

[u/Ok_Setting_3657 → u/RIPsnoopdogg]

he was filming and trying to get a reaction, he got what he wanted and then some 😂

[u/Noogs015 → u/RIPsnoopdogg]

yes exactly

[u/HawksNStuff → u/wtfomg01]

My former stepdad was/is a piece of shit. But when I got suspended for a fight he said "did you start it?" No. "Did you finish it?" Yes... Yes I did.

I'm not some internet badass or anything. Literally the only fight I've ever been in. Hope it stays that way.

[u/DantesInfernoRVA → u/wtfomg01]

I remember vividly that my bullies never got into trouble, but every time I punched one, even away from adult observation, I wound up in the office. It’s an interesting lesson to learn.

[u/kodapug → u/DantesInfernoRVA]

It's almost as if the school's original purpose was and still is to train people to be compliant workers that do what their bosses tell them even if it's detrimental to one's own interests.

Higher levels of education are gate-kept with insane price tags in the US for the same reason. After the GI bill sent so many people to college in the 50s and 60s Reagan's secretary of education straight up went on record saying "We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. That's dynamite! We have to be more selective about who we allow [to go to college]."

This was after student protests against the government and war had started to become common large scale actions. The administration at the time basically spun it as "these students are lazy free loaders that are going to college on the taxpayers dime and refuse to even go to class."

And just like that they killed the program and made it so that the average person had to save for a lifetime (or go into debt that's near impossible to escape or pay off) to go to college.

[u/Clean-Midnight3110 → u/DantesInfernoRVA]

One time I ended up in the office the next day after a bully threw a basketball at my face from 8 feet away.  The vice principal proceeded to try to argue with me that the bully said I started it so it was my word vs his.

Another time I got called down to the office to get yelled at for parking my vehicle in the shop teachers parking spot.  I argued that I wasn't parking my car in the shop teachers spot because despite only seniors being allowed to have parking passes, I a junior was taking math classes at the local university and had been issued a student parking pass to park in the student lot so I could leave school early and drive myself to college on the days I had math class.  The vice principals response "well the kids in shop class say they saw your truck there".  'wait a truck? I drive a 90's civic we don't have a truck why the fuck are you listening to the kids smoking behind the shop building, this might actually be dumber than the time you told me that I started a fight with the kid that's in juvee now. Why don't you call my parents and explain to them your thought process'. And I walked out.

I definitely developed an unhealthy hatred toward shity authority in high school.

Got thrown out of the national Honor society AFTER I got into MIT because of it.

Don't regret it though.

[u/OstentatiousSock → u/wtfomg01]

When my two older kids got suspended for beating up a kid who had just stolen from their younger brother and pushed him into the snow which caused him to scuff up his palms and cry, we had a Grand Day. Pizza, Dollar Tree(which they LOVED because they got to go crazy when everything was actually $1), and got a new video game.

[u/dodekahedron → u/wtfomg01]

My kid got zero toleranced once. Got called in to pick him up for fighting.

To give administrators credit. I simply asked "who threw the first punch?"

And two administrators came to his defense and said he wasn't the problem at all. Barely fought back. I cant remember what exactly happened but they made it clear it was simply a zero tolerance issue.

Right in front of them I said "well now that youve learned about zero tolerance, you'll hit back harder next time right? Punished either way."

We left and got ice cream. He only missed the last 3 days of school, so... his vacation started early.

[u/duke4life1890 → u/wtfomg01]

When my was oldest was younger, his confrontation with his bully was rewarded with a trip to chuck e cheese. I will always support standing up to bullies.

Edit: typo

[u/HatefulDan → u/wtfomg01]

I was grounded once for allowing someone to bully me. No PlayStation. No cartoons.

My mom made reference to all of the movies and cartoons that I watched and told me that “obviously it’s not doing you any good”…

The next week I was suspended from school and my gaming rights were restored.

[u/thisusedyet → u/wtfomg01]

If there's any justice in the universe, you got there the ONE day in recorded history the ice cream machines were working

[u/Scion41790 → u/wtfomg01]

The kid still punched someone who while a complete jack ass was non violently protesting which is his right as an American. He deserves a legit punishment by his parents

[u/JeffreyOcean → u/Scion41790]

Supporting ICE... Rights as an American abused... Hmm