Karen Smith
CNN
November 28, 2011
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for what he called his staff’s “overreaction” to a disparaging tweet directed at him by a high school senior during a state Capitol visit.
Emma Sullivan, 18, said late Sunday that a Brownback staffer had notified her school’s principal about the tweet, and the principal told her she had to write an apology to the governor. On Monday — the deadline for the letter, according to the teen — the Shawnee Mission School District issued a statement stating that “she is not required to write a letter of apology to the governor.”
KSHB: School district responds
A statement issued by Brownback on Monday did not reference Sullivan by name or mention the prospect of any apology letter. He did emphasize his support for “freedom of speech,” while thanking “the thousands of Kansas educators who remind us daily of our liberties, as well as the values of civility and decorum.”
“My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize,” the governor said. “Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms.”
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