Julie Sullivan isn’t angry with her daughter, Emma, for tweeting disparaging remarks about Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback during a Youth in Government program last week in Topeka:

“She was talking to 65 friends. And also it’s the speech they use today. It’s more attention grabbing. I raised my kids to be independent, to be strong, to be free thinkers. If she wants to tweet her opinion about Gov. Brownback, I say for her to go for it and I stand totally behind her.”

Brownback’s office, on the other hand, picked up the tweet and contacted the Youth in Government program. Sullivan’s high school principal subsequently demanded a written apology; 18 year-old Emma has refused saying she isn’t sorry so a letter would be insincere.

It was her older sister who blew things up by contacting the media. And now Emma’s up to 3,000 Twitter followers.