WAUSAU, Wis. - An American flag flown upside down as a protest in a northern Wisconsin village was seized by police before a Fourth of July parade and the businessman who flew it - an Iraq war veteran - claims the officers trespassed and stole his property...In mid-June, Congine, 46, began flying the flag upside down - an accepted way to signal distress - outside the restaurant he wants to open in Crivitz, a village of about 1,000 people some 65 miles north of Green Bay.
He said his distress is likely bankruptcy because the village board refused to grant him a liquor license after he spent nearly $200,000 to buy and remodel a downtown building for an Italian supper club...
Congine's upside-down-flag represents distress to him; to others in town, it represents disrespect of the flag.
Hours before a Fourth of July parade, four police officers went to Congine's property and removed the flag under the advice of Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey...
Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said it was not illegal to fly the flag upside down but people were upset and it was the Fourth of July.
"It is illegal to cause a disruption," he said...
"If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it..."
Offered without comment, though one can't help but note the irony that this incident occurred on a day commemorating America's various freedoms.
Photo credit Susan Willems.
I think this is an interesting case I would love for the ACLU to step in and represent Congine. The police had no legal right to forcibly take it down...the best they could do is politely ask him to hang it the correct way and find some other way to protest. This is an actual abuse of police powers.
ReplyDeleteI have great respect for the American flag and what it represents and I would NEVER do anything like Mr. Congine however, our judicial branch has made it clear that the right to abuse or misuse the American Flag is NOT a criminal offense.
It is JUST A FLAG people. If I had passed by it, I would've thought it being upside down was just an action of someone quirky, and smiled to myself, and walked on.
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