A veteran was ordered to remove an American flag he put up in front of his Florida home.
Joseph Carpenter told CBS12 News he “defended this land.”
Carpenter added, “For someone to tell me I don’t have the right to display my own country’s colors, it’s beyond me.”
He mounted his flag Tuesday morning just hours before he was told to take it down.
“My property manager came knocking on the door, while I was on the phone with my VA social worker. She can overhear my property manager yelling, ‘that’s got to come down, that’s got to come down. We want all these places to look uniform’,” he said.
According to the outlet, Carpenter cited the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005.
The outlet explained, “The law allows tenants to display an American flag in a respectful manner, regardless of any provision in the rental agreement.”
Carpenter said it “signifies all of our freedom that we allow in this nation.”
Management told CBS12 News drilling holes to mount his flag was considered a destruction of property.
Carpenter reportedly needed to submit a formal request before drilling holes to mount the flag.
“I took the mount off the wall. I repaired the holes. They touched it up with paint. You can’t even tell where it was at. I feel like my patriotism has been taken out from underneath my feet,” Carpenter said.
The outlet reported Carpenter has plans to formally submit a letter requesting to mount the flag.
“I defended this land,” says Joseph Carpenter “For someone to tell me I don’t have the right to display my own country’s colors, it’s beyond me.”https://t.co/wSIwLXyMmN
— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) June 15, 2022
Additionally, CBS12 News noted records show the location of his home is listed as an assisted living facility.
Jonathan Bloom of Bloom & Freeling Attorneys at Law of Boca Raton said, “That building is owned by a particular person or entity, and if they were to allow everybody, let’s say, to start defacing or putting in the building, which the tenant doesn’t own. It could cause damage and waste to the building, or devalue the value of the building itself.”
