An American flag must come down, a condo association has told a homeowner. Their reasoning, however, has left him dumbfounded and others wondering what infraction they will come up with next.
Andrew Almer had flown the American flag from the balcony of his home at the Plum Tree Square condos with no problem for two years, but that suddenly changed when the condominium association in Fargo, North Dakota, had a complaint after a breeze began to blow, The Blaze reported.
Almer said he started receiving letters from the condo association president, saying his flag must come down. Why? According to the condo association, it made “an excessive amount of noise in the wind at all hours.” The letter also stated that Almer’s flag must come down “during these times” as well as during “any inclement weather” and “between sunset and sunrise.”
Almer, of course, disagreed, saying he should be able to fly the flag wherever and whenever he wished. “It’s a symbol of our nation. It should be flown whenever it can be,” Almer explained while speaking with the news station KVLY. “I have a lot of friends and family that are in the military.”
The homeowner was dumbfounded that his flag had caused a complaint. “You really have to be kidding me?” he exclaimed while talking to the station. “With everything that’s going on nowadays in the world, this is something that you’re going to complain about?” he asked, rhetorically. “It’s not anything offensive,” he added. “It’s not rude, it’s not nasty — it’s the American flag.”
Indeed, Andrew Almer isn’t wrong. In fact, KVLY even noted that the Federal Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 says no homeowner association can restrict owners from displaying the American flag on their property. However, there are exceptions. Associations can restrict owners from flying the American flag if it’s reasonable or in the best interest of the association, which is subject to opinion.
So, the question becomes, what’s “reasonable” and “in the best interest” of the condo association? Almer doesn’t believe his flag and the alleged “noise” it makes when the wind blows fits this subjective rule and has emphasized that it’s there to stay. Saying his flag is staying up even if that means he will see fines in the future, Almer declared, “It’s not coming down anytime soon,” adding, “It’s not making that much noise that it’s a liability to the association.”
This isn’t the first time Old Glory has come under attack. We’ve all seen professional athletes kneeling in front of the flag as the national anthem played before games, as well as protesters burning it in the streets. In addition, Fairfax County, Virginia, mulled placing restrictions on flags on private property. In early March 2021, the Democrat-dominated county said it was looking at regulating the size, height, and number of flags that residents and businesses could fly on private property, including the American flag, according to The Blaze.
In the Fall of 2020, a Columbia University adjunct lecturer insisted the American flag is a hateful symbol of genocide. Also, that same Fall, alleged “Antifa militants” were reportedly caught on video as they ganged up on a woman of color and dragged her to a Portland, Oregon, sidewalk by her hair in an attempt to yank an American flag from her — but she wouldn’t let go. The prior year, a Fort Hood soldier was ordered to remove the American flag from his rental home, and there have been many other similar cases.
As the Stars and Stripes continue to endure quite the beating, there has been some good news for flag-flying Americans too. In the summer of 2020, a North Carolina Air Force veteran was ordered to remove his American flag face covering by his grocery store employer, but the move was halted after a big backlash. That same Fall, far-left New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy ordered the Turnpike Authority to reverse its decision to ban the display of U.S. flags on overpasses after a massive public outcry.
It seems everywhere you turn these days there’s a new push against the American flag. Of course, that leaves many to wonder whether the condo association’s complaint is really about the “noise.” Assuming that it is, we can understand the desire to have a peaceful and quiet neighborhood. However, is the sound of a flag flying in the breeze and rippling in the wind really that disruptive? We’ll let you decide what you think.