Man Cited For Flying Flag Upside Down

[RamboLiberal]

Source: WPXI.com

BUTLER COUNTY, Pa. -- A Butler County man was cited for flying his American flag upside down.

David Rice, 50, of Muddy Creek Township claimed he put his flag up at night and didn't realize it was upside down until recently.

A passing motorist was offended and called the police.

Rice was cited for violating a statute called Committing Insults to a National or Commonwealth Flag.

Read more: http://www.wpxi.com/news/21788652/detail.html

---

Huh? Now I don't believe he did this accidentally. Knowing that area of my state I bet he is a RW'er protesting Obama or whatever, but damn IMHO if he wants to fly the flag upside down that is in his right as a citizen!

On edit more on the story:

State police filed a little-used and controversial criminal charge against a Butler County man following a confrontation at his home over an upside-down American flag.

David M. Rice, 50, of Muddy Creek is charged with committing insults to a national or commonwealth flag, a misdemeanor that experts said exists in a gray area of law and that sparked a federal lawsuit in Eastern Pennsylvania last year.

State police said they went to Rice's home Monday after a passing motorist called to report the flag was inverted.

Trooper Herbert Rieger knocked on the door and Rice answered, acted extremely angry and said, "What the (expletive) do you want?" according to a police affidavit.

The trooper said he was there in regard to his American flag, which was flying upside down. Rice continued to be irate and stepped toward the trooper and yelled profanities, police reported. Rieger pushed him back and arrested him, the affidavit states.

----

The statute says it's a crime when someone "maliciously takes down, defiles, injures, removes or in any manner damages, insults or destroys any American flag or the flag of the Commonwealth which is displayed anywhere."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_655763.html

[Romulox]

1. He should fight it on Constitutional grounds. nt

[Demeter]

19. Sounds Like Free Speech To Me

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Flag ordinances are anti-American...

If he wants to fly his flag upsaide down, he's about a year too late.

[niyad]

3. isn't an upside-down flag a distress signal? must be nice for the damned police to have nothing

more important to do. so some busybody was offended? would almost be tempted to issue THAT persona citation for wasting police time.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. It would seem that if you can BURN a flag, then you can post it upside down.

[Renew Deal]

5. I didn't think flag rules weren't anything more than etiquette.

[niyad]

6. umm, by the way--why was he putting up a flag at night?

[poverlay]

8. A flag can be flown at night as long as it's properly illuminated. An upside down flag is a major

distress signal and should not be used as a protest. It's like calling 911 to ask about the weather. Burn it in protest, at a protest-fine, but don't use it to signal something that isn't happening. Boy who cried wolf and all that.

[RamboLiberal]

7. Wonder why the PA State Police didn't look up this guy last year?

A Pulaski Township man who was protesting the election of Barack Obama by flying his American flag upside down is upset after someone stole it.

Larry DeBaker decided to fly his flag upside down because he says he's worried about the country's direction.

"I had my doubts on whether it was right or wrong, you know, but through the experience of it all, I'm sorry as an American I find that it's crazy that if you express your opinion," he said.

He says he's gotten phone calls from dozens of people who are both for and against his protest.

"I think it's disrespectful to the flag and to the country – I think he could have found a better way to protest if he wanted to," an area resident tells KDKA.

DeBaker says his protest was not meant to be unpatriotic; and he says he plans to put another flag upside down.

http://kdka.com/local/Upside.down.flag.2.862167.html

[struggle4progress]

17. Pulaski's in the Pittsburgh urban sprawl. Muddy Creek seems to be a tiny rural township.

I bet if anybody in the Pittsburgh area, who suggested blue suits should write flag tickets, would be laughed out of town. But blue suits detailed to the Muddy Creek area may have a ticket quota they usually fill by snagging speeders on 79: write a flag ticket and spend an hour less with the radar gun pointed down the Interstate

[MNDemNY]

9. What would they do if I wiped my ass with it?

It's just a piece of cloth.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. the upside down flag was on my porch from 1968 till 1979.

AND the pea brained neighbor, a cop, threatened to arrest me.
But 2 other cops stood up for me ( both my brothers).
The ex, a veteran, was not happy.

I hope this guy takes it to court.

[skippy911sc]

11. I did this once.

I was the person in charge of raising the flag at my grade school and accidentally raised the flag upside down and was called down to the office and given a lecture on what this really means. I did not receive a ticket nor was I arrested. I paid more attention from that point on however.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. So free speech covers lies to start wars and threaten the president

but not flying a flag the wrong way?

People who would take away freedom just to protect its symbol are nuts. And they are traitors.

Fuck every mother-fucking piece of shit who had anything to do with that law.

[reggie the dog]

13. I have a t shit with an upside down flag on it

with the words evil empire above it. For the group Rage Against the Machine.....is that an illegal shirt?

[reggie the dog]

14. In a free country we should be free to fly our flags as we see fit

dudes home, dudes flag, end of fucking story. Perhaps he is scared of major distress of socialized medecine, so be it, he should have the right to protest by putting his flag upside down.

[Zodiak]

16. Agreed

It's free speech, whether I agree with it or not.

[Ter]

23. He's obviously an Obama hater

Could be a right-winger, could be a Ron Paul libertarian, or could be a DUer protesting him from the left. Either way it's his flag and his right.

[barbtries]

15. flying it upside down

doesn't pass the muster on that law imo. i'm not a lawyer.

[livetohike]

18. No mention of a Confederate flag nearby but I will bet there was

that and a Don't Tread on Me flag. Knowing that very township, it wouldn't surprise me.

[reggie the dog]

20. so be it

we should be free to fly whatever flags we want, hell if some asshole wants to put a nazi flag by their door in the USA this is free speech, end of story, even if it pisses me off to see nazi flags I respect free speech as a right.

[livetohike]

21. Such a rebel he must be- he can fly 100 flags, he's probably

still an asshole.

[reggie the dog]

24. I agree

but people have the right to be assholes, so long as they don't violate the rights of others.

[livetohike]

25. Good slogan reggie

:toast:

[nosmokes]

22. WTF is wrong with pigs in this country anymore? Are they so ignorant they

don't even have the basic grasp of the Constitutional rights and fundamentals?

And they wonder why there's a divide.

Sheesh. buy a fucking clue.

[Hepburn]

26. The PA law, IMO, is unConst.

Flag burning has been found to be protected First Amendment speech ~~ specifically symbolic speech. I would have to assume that flying the flag upside down, etc., even if intentional is protected under the First Amendment.

JMHO