A Florida teacher has been placed on suspension after an investigation found she took the hand of a Jehovah's Witness student and tried to force him to say the Pledge of Allegiance on Sept. 11, Hernando Today reports.

Anne Daigle-McDonald, a teacher at Explorer K8 in Spring Hill, has been placed on unpaid suspension for five days and will be required to complete diversity training.

During the incident, the student tried to explain that as a Jehovah's Witness, he's not permitted to worship objects, and that he would stand during the pledge but not place his hand over his heart.

This prompted McDonald to walk to the front of the class and say "If you don't want to say the pledge, you still have to put your hand on your heart and if you don't want to do that, you should move out of the country," Hernando Today reports.

McDonald's defense was that she thought the religion only applied to the exclusion of holidays and that she thinks every U.S. citizen should show respect to the American flag.