This story was originally published by ProPublica.
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On the second day of school this year in Hamilton County, Ty picked out a purple bunny from hundreds of other plushies in his room. While his mom wasn’t looking, the 13-year-old snuck it into his backpack to show to his friends.
It was the 10th anniversary of his favorite video game franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and Bonnie the bunny is one of the stars. Ty has autism and Bonnie is his biggest comfort when he gets agitated or discouraged. No one other than Ty, not even his mom, is allowed to touch Bonnie.
Ty was new to Ooltewah Middle School, located just east of Chattanooga. In class that morning, he told his teacher he didn’t want anyone to look in his backpack, worried they would confiscate his toy, according to Ty and his mom. When the teacher asked why, Ty responded, “Because the whole school will blow up,” he and his mom recalled.