Marine denied entry into Six Flags in NJ because of T-shirt

JACKSON, NJ -- A marine was denied entrance to a New Jersey amusement park last weekend - all because of his T-shirt.

Mario Alejandro planned a trip to the amusement park with his wife and children, but was turned away at the security gate because of his shirt.

The shirt says, "Keep calm and return fire," and has an image of a red, white and blue M-16. Alejandro is a marine, and was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"When we got through the metal detector, the guy stopped me. You can't come in with that shirt," said Alejandro. "I started laughing. 'You are joking, right?' He said, 'no, that shirt is offensive.'"

Alejandro, a marine who was part of the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003, said the shirt was a Father's Day gift, purchased from a non-profit group that supports the Marines. He said he refused to take it off on principle.

The amusement park would not budge on its policy and although Alejandro's family went in, Mario chose not to.

In a statement, Six Flags said it does not "allow guests to wear t-shirts with images of assault rifles in our parks."

"We apologize for any inconvenience we caused this guest, however we stand by our policy, which does not permit clothing with vulgar, offensive or violent language or images. our goal is to maintain a fun, safe and family-friendly environment," it said.

For Alejandro, the whole incident felt like a slap in the face to all veterans.

"A lot of people gave their blood and sacrifice for the shirt," he said. "They saw the assault rifle and said no, no, no.