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| Dispute over flag protest erupts in Wisc. village |
| 2009-07-11 |
| 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. A day after the parade, police returned the flag and the man's protest -- over a liquor license -- continued. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village of Crivitz for violating Vito Congine Jr.'s' First Amendment rights, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said. "It is not often that you see something this blatant," Ahmuty said. 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. Neighbor Steven Klein watched in disbelief. "I said, 'What are you doing?' Klein said. "They said, 'It is none of your business.'" The next day, police returned the flag. Brey declined comment Friday. 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. Damned mullahs. At it again I see. The parade went on without any problems, Kanikula said. Village President John Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it's disrespectful to fly the flag upside down. "If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it," Deschane said. Brainwashed peasantry. Congine, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq in 2004, said he intends to keep flying the flag upside down. "It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else," Congine said, "and then I come home to find it right here at my front door." What? Where? My mistake, I thought this story was in Iran . . . . |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #8 Sorry, but since flying the flag upside down is an internationally known symbol of distress... On a ship or a besieged fort, yes. In this case, it's an internationally known symbol of a crank. There's a house near me that has four state flags flown upside-down. I think they're supposed to be the boundary markers for the Sovereign Republic of Lolostan, but I can't be sure. Should I call the cops, just in case this guy's in permanent distress? Seriously, he's in such trouble he can't dial 911 or put a big HELP! sign in the window, but he can go out and turn the flag upside-down? Guy has a right to be a jackass on his own property. People have a right to boycott his business in indignation. Cops have no right to enter and seize property for this reason. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2009-07-11 20:42 |
| #7 The local law should beat him around the kidneys with a rubber hose while the fireworks were going. Pissing blood for a month would have made him a better person. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-07-11 14:58 |
| #6 The city will argue his safety was at risk for disrespect. Besides, who now would go there, certainly not me or anyone I know. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-07-11 12:10 |
| #5 Parabellum called it. Chances are he'd be flying it upside down when he went outta business in about a year. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-07-11 11:51 |
| #4 Sorry, but since flying the flag upside down is an internationally known symbol of distress, it is a public disturbance because decent citizens will call into emergency services to tell them someone is in distress, which if nothing else, wastes time. I don't blame the cops for taking it down on the 4th of July, a day that is filled with emergency calls. |
| Posted by: Penguin 2009-07-11 10:02 |
| #3 He might get by in Milwaukee's upper east side, too. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-07-11 08:35 |
| #2 What kind of moron drops $200,000 on supper club renovations without having the liquor license in his pocket? That said, the DA was nuts to tell the cops to take Congine's property. He's gonna lose his job over this one. Stupidity abounds. |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2009-07-11 08:32 |
| #1 Good luck with your liquor license, resturant, and life in that small town dipshi*. You belong down in Madison with the other nuts. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-07-11 06:01 |