Police Remove Citizen From Council Meeting For Holding American Flag

SMG News WireDecember 2, 2024

[Perhaps, Nishith Patel, Edison Township Council President just doesn’t get the importance of the American flag and the Constitution. The fruits of diversity!]

The Edison Township Council in New Jersey has banned citizens from having American flags, copies of the U.S. Constitution or “other props” at meetings.

A citizen who objected to the new rules was told by council president Nishith Patel that he was in violation ordered police to remove the man from the council chamber.

“To consider the American flag and the Constitution a prop when someone raises it is an insult to what the flag is, what the flag stands for and what this country is,” resident Maryann Hennessey told MyCentralJersey.com. “For you to consider the use of the American flag a prop is disgusting.”

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Patel told the Edison Reporter that “any props will be considered not conducive to good order and as the President I am making that call.”

“The American flag is a symbol of our nation and our values,” resident Joel Bassoff told the Edison Reporter. “To suggest that displaying it is disruptive is an insult to everything it stands for.”

Patel then told Bassoff he was in violation of the council’s rules by holding the American flag.

“It’s my constitutional right to do this,” Bassoff said. “If you get sued, you will lose. My suggestion to you is that you get a second opinion from competent counsel because you are wrong.”

At that point police were summoned and Bassoff was removed from the room.

Residents can be heard clapping as Bassoff continued. “You are interfering with the decorum of this meeting by interfering with the right to speech of a member of the public. And it should stop now,” he said.

Edison Republican Chairwoman Sylvia Engle said that banning the flag from council meetings “goes beyond normal political discourse between parties and will be destructive to our diverse community. This goes beyond common sense, quite frankly it’s absurd.”

Men and women sacrificed their lives for that flag and it’s disgraceful to imagine elected officials would dare to ban Old Glory. Watch the entire encounter below.