Last week, American clothing company Urban Outfitters released a controversial sweatshirt for sale on their website. The sweatshirt, splattered with blood-red paint and emblazoned with the words “Kent State University,” sparked grave memories of the 1970 shooting that occurred when the Ohio Army National Guard killed several anti-Vietnam war protesters at the school. After receiving backlash on social media users, Urban Outfitters quickly removed the item for sale.

“The store selling this is being rude about the incident. I don’t understand why a highly recognized store such as Urban Outfitters would sell clothes like these that are trying to manifest what happened. The people buying them probably don’t even know what happened. I think it’s suspicious that the company didn’t even think it looked remotely inappropriate when they came up with the idea,” senior Shelby Husband said.

However, Urban Outfitters is not the only company under the spotlight for selling controversial products. Last month, clothing company Zara sold a blue and white striped t-shirt, bearing a six-point star on the top corner, much like the one Jewish concentration camp inmates wore during the Holocaust.

According to some students at North Cobb, producers should stop making these items available for sale.

Senior Victoria Wright agreed: “Freedom of expression has its limits, and when a corporation steps over its boundaries, the government needs to take action to protect others from oppression,” Wright said.