Autistic boy was suspended for wearing a banana costume, so a reporter came to interview him in a grape costume

Then-14-year-old Bryan Thompson raised many heads when he wore a banana costume and ran along the sidelines of a high school football game, per Raw Story. The then-teenager, who is also autistic, was reportedly handcuffed and taken away and then suspended from school. A reporter from Washington, D.C., Pat Collins, wanted to get to the root of what pushed him to try the stunt. However, he decided to do it differently — by wearing a costume himself. The elderly man made his way to Thompson in a grape costume and discovered the motive or thought behind this unexpectedly authentic prank. 

Colonial Forge High School Principal Karen Spillman suspended the boy for 10 days and even suggested he be kicked out of school. The reporter met with the boy and tried to understand the magnitude of his prank that led to the harsh punishment. When the duo met, Thompson surely got a sense of support from his bright violet grape costume. "School officials accused him of being disruptive and disrespectful. Frankly, I don't see what all the fuss is about,” Collins said. When asked about why he chose a banana, the then-teenager hysterically responded, "I don't know. Potassium is great." Much went down after this scene unfolded. 

Thompson created his own rap song titled “Free Banana Man,” and it added to the hype among the students. He even set up a Facebook page for the cause, and it seemed to work. Very soon, kids were donning yellow t-shirts that read, “Free Banana Man,” hoping the principal would revoke the suspension, but in vain. The school instead began confiscating the t-shirts and even sent the students into detention for supporting Thompson. When things started to get out of hand, the American Civil Liberties Union got involved, NBC4 Washington stated. The principal was told that her actions weren’t right and that she couldn’t take away the students’ protest t-shirts.

Everyone believed that it was a harmless prank that didn’t deserve so much contempt. Thompson, too, pointed out that the entire idea was “just to make people happy.” "But when you think about it, you might see [the school's] point," the reporter jokingly remarked. He added, "It starts with a banana. Then, all of a sudden, you have an apple, an orange, and maybe a grape! And before you know it, you have fruit salad in the schools! We can't have that,” he said. The interview eventually went viral, and the principal had no choice but to revoke the suspension and allow the boy to continue schooling, an updated report revealed.

Fast forward years later, at 24 years old, Thompson was reportedly pursuing a career in music under the title “Leon Knight”, the outlet revealed. For the reporter, this was a story to cherish. It was not just a story to report but a humane cause to support and fight for kindness to uphold. "In 48 years I have been a reporter on TV, I have done thousands of stories, but there is one story that keeps hanging around," Collins said. As for Thompson or “Leon Knight,” as he has taken the name, his career is flourishing brilliantly.