Idaho student says teacher tossed his Mexican flag in trash

TWIN FALLS, Idaho - A high school student says he may file a lawsuit against a physical education teacher who took a Mexican flag he had brought for Cinco de Mayo and put it in the garbage.

"I said, 'What's the problem?'" Camelo, speaking in Spanish, told The Times-News of Twin Falls. "He said, 'The problem is that we are in the United States and not in Mexico.' He grabbed it from me. He threw the flag in the garbage can."

a third of the student body is Hispanic

Straatman denied saying the words Camelo attributed to him, and said the student may have misunderstood him because of his poor English

I had to confiscate it so it wouldn't escalate any problems in class," Straatman told

a few students wearing clothing in the colors of the Mexican flag — red, white and green — in protest of Monday's incident