A North Carolina middle school choir was ordered to stop singing the national anthem outside the 9/11 memorial.
Video of the Waynesville choir's New York City performance was posted to Facebook.
According to the memorial website, groups wanting to perform must first get a permit.
The students didn't have a permit but did have a verbal OK from one security guard.
WMS chorus singing @ Twin Towers Memorial. They stopped them half the way thru. You can't sing the National Anthem. So sad this is happening everywhere. They sounded great. God Bless America!
Posted by Connie Shepherd Scanlon on Wednesday, April 20, 2016
"I think it's terrible, being a veteran and such. Trying to instill on our youth the history of our country and the importance of our country; what we have here. So why stop them from singing our national anthem?" Bill Bright said.
The video of the students singing has been shared on Facebook over 1,000 times.
They later received an apology.
Officials at the memorial told ABC affiliate WLOS the security guard did not respond appropriately when the Waynesville Middle School group was asked to stop midway through the performance.
A spokesperson for the memorial told WLOS via phone they want students to have a positive experience, and stopping them in the middle of the performance was not the best way to help that group have one.
"The guard did not respond appropriately. We are working with our security staff to ensure that this will not happen again," spokesperson for the 9/11 Memorial Kaylee Skaar said. "We reached out to the school to express our regret for how this was handled and asked the principal to share how we felt with the students. We welcome the choir to return to the Memorial for another visit in the future.
Skaar says they are working with staff to ensure this does not happen again with future student performances.
Waynesville is 30 miles west of Asheville.
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