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| -Land of the Free |
| Veterans protest flag removal at Hampshire College |
| 2016-11-28 |
| Amherst, Mass. – At least one thousand veterans gathered in Amherst this afternoon to protest the removal of the American flag at Hampshire College. 22news spoke to protesters about why they strongly disagreed with the college’s decision. Freedom is not free. That’s the lesson that hundreds of veterans, their families and friends and other local residents hoped to teach students at Hampshire College Sunday afternoon. Jerry Maguire, Veteran said, “They took down my flag, they have a right to that, I’m here to defend their right to do that but I want them to understand how bad that hurts me.” Hundreds gathered to show their support of the American flag and what it stands for after the College removed the flag on campus earlier this week following the presidential election results. A decision by the college that outraged many. David Soucy, a Veteran told 22News, “I was in Iraq 18 months. I got hurt, spent time at Walter Reed. I came home and there’s no way I’ll let anyone take down the flag, no way. It means a lot to me and my brothers.” People came from all over New England to attend this protest. The news of the flag being taken down upset Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno who stood in solidarity with veterans Sunday. Mayor Domenic Sarno mentioned, “For the students here and the president and board of trustees have risen from what the veterans sacrificed, this flag and not to fly the flag on this campus if you were in some other countries around the world it would be handled very, very differently.” |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 Betcha the veterans left their protest area cleaner than they found it, too. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2016-11-28 20:58 |
| #8 Calling BS on the mayor's actions; Like he wasn't in the know of the flag being taken down and only showed up in support of the vets once the wind direction changed. useless POS |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2016-11-28 14:34 |
| #7 I'm wondering if Ohio University people would've appreciated the veterans today. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2016-11-28 14:13 |
| #6 BTW, what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying...? Cry racism and beg their overlords to save them. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2016-11-28 11:32 |
| #5 Lest we forget, Trigglypuff is a Hampshire College student. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIpkdusnIkE |
| Posted by: regular joe 2016-11-28 11:28 |
| #4 BTW,what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying if they can't stand up to one vandal. you're assuming they didn't burn it themselves |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-11-28 08:42 |
| #3 SCOTUS said you have a right to burn the flag. Your flag, not someone else's. Burning someone else's is vandalism and is not 'protected speech'. BTW, what are the administrators going to do when the bullets start flying if they can't stand up to one vandal. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-11-28 07:36 |
| #2 It's Amherst, Mass - let it burn. |
| Posted by: Raj 2016-11-28 00:32 |
| #1 I can imagine a slowdown in public services will sway opinions. Missed garbage pickup days, burned out streetlights, reduced late patrols by police, periodic/random power brownouts, food service inspections. Yeah, quality control on services can slip a lot. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2016-11-28 00:11 |