One West Virginia middle school student is now facing serious consequence for his attempt to exercise his first amendment right to free speech this past April. Jared Marcum has since been charged with obstructing an officer and faces up to a year in jail.

"Me, I'm more of a fighter and so is Jared and eventually we're going to get through this," his father, Allen Lardieri, told WOWK. "I don't think it should have ever gotten this far."

The incident all stemmed from Marcum wearing an NRA shirt with a gun and the slogan "protect your right." Though he was asked several times to take it off, Marcum refused, saying that he was exercising his right to free speech and expression.

His attorney Ben White defended Marcum's actions to the Associated Press, saying, "We at this point believe that Jared acted as mature as a 14-year-old child can act with the pressure that was put on him."

Soon a police officer was called in to intervene with the boy, who did not relent in his protestation of his right to free speech. The Logan County Police Department has stated that the reason Marcum was arrested was because he was talking over the officer while he was attempting to do his job.

"In my view of the facts, Jared didn't do anything wrong," White told WOWK. "I think officer Adkins could have done something differently."

The officer's report makes no mention of the boy's supposed "obstructive" behavior, according to White. The school's dress code also does not explicitly prohibit Marcum's shirt, though it does say that the dress code is up to the discretion of administrators.

"Their version is that the suspension was for disrupting the educational process, not the shirt," White told The Associated Press in April. "I don't see how he materially disrupted the educational process."

If convicted of obstructing an officer, Marcum could face up to a $500 fine and a year in jail. In support of their fellow classmate, students across Logan County wore NRA shirts after the incident in a show of solidarity. Marcum's next court date is scheduled for Jul. 11.