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Campaign sign defaced with anti-American flag rhetoric

August 22, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

A vandal taped an American flag scrawled with hateful rhetoric on a Paso Robles school board member’s campaign sign earlier this week, prompting city staff to quickly remove the sign.

Over the face of candidate Lauren McCoy, the vandal taped an American flag with a satanic symbol and “One nation under Satan. The vandal also included an anarchist symbol along with, “I pledge defiance.”

Over the past decade, there has been a push to demonize the American flag. Hundreds of protestors have burned American flags at anti-Israel and black lives matter demonstrations.

In response to comments on social media regarding the district’s flag policy and several teacher’s vocal opposition to the American flag, Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Superintendent Jennifer Loftus sent an email to trustees noting the district’s flag policy does not appear to be legal.

“Teacher’s First Amendment rights are limited during the school day when they are serving on behalf of the district,” Loftus said in her email. “Classroom displays must be neutral and directly related to the board adopted curriculum, and/or state approved standards. Teachers do not in their capacity as educators have the right to promote their personal agenda, be it political or religious or otherwise.”

On Tuesday evening, three school board trustees, including McCoy, asked that the flag policy be brought back to the board. Trustee Jim Cogan then argued against making any changes to the policy during a contentious end to the meeting.

Shortly afterwards, McCoy’s sign was vandalized. McCoy wonders if she was targeted because she does not conform to her critics’ views of what a black person should believe.

“This is not about race, it is about doing what’s right,” McCoy said. “I am the right woman for the job.”

 


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“Over the past decade, there has been a push to demonize the American flag. Hundreds of protestors have burned American flags at anti-Israel and black lives matter demonstrations”


What a load of self-serving codswallop nonsense. The inherent racism in the comment speak volumes. Go back 40+ years and see how often the flag was burned in opposition to the Vietnam war.


0

Oh Paso patriotic parent. Leave your kids alone. They aren’t political. They just want to go to school, learn and have fun with their friends.

Get out of their way.


-21

What’s getting in the way of real learning at Paso schools is indoctrination through sharing private information and personal opinion that is totally unrelated with school and the curriculum. Flags relating to those personal/private topics have no place in the classroom environment. Flags, however, such as the Union Jack, Betsy Ross Flag, The Gadsen/Culpepper Flag, flags of the 13 colonies, and of course Old Glory have a legitimate reason to be seen and discussed in the context of learning history, government and civics.


11

It is one thing after another…and another in the Paso school district. And almost always a politically inspired spin. And spun by radical parents.

Memo to parents: Spew your political bullshit in the breakroom at work.

But dont embarrass your kids to the point they are ashamed of you.

Try to be the adult in the room and not the asshole.

There was never this much crap in PR. Until the Trump black cloud started choking all of us.

Are you all ready for even more BS from the great divider?


-22

The only solution is to ban all flags at schools. The flagpoles will be unadorned metal poles, like a tall Festivus pole.


-35

Police are posting a symbol of solidarity. That is not political. They are not paid to teach impressionable students. I teach my kids what they need to know about politics. In school Civics and American History should be taught. That prepares the kids to ask questions about political issues.


23

Police do it every day in just about every public police department, POST training facility, cars, and uniform and it isn’t a problem. If it’s ok for the police to do (changing one of the stripes to a different color) without issue why can’t everyone else add their own artistic spin on it? Oh, that’s right, it is just as wrong for the police to do as it was for the person that did it in this article according to the feds.


“In the United States, the Federal Flag Desecration Law of 1968 makes it illegal to “knowingly” cast “contempt” upon the flag by burning, trampling, defacing, mutilating, or defiling it in public. The law also includes the following definitions of “flag of the United States”:

Any flag of the United States, regardless of size, substance, or form

Any part of a flag of the United States

Penalties for desecrating the flag include fines and/or imprisonment for up to one year.”


14

An “official ” flag of the USA, per code, will contain only the colors of red, white, blue, and gold/yellow for trim or fringe.


The “Police flag” is black and grey. They do not use a flag adhering to the US flag code. They are fully allowed to wear badges, identification, or symbols related to their service and occupation.


Your 1968 law was amended in 1989, then wholly struck down in USA v. Eichman and allows desecration as a form of “expression, While vile and hateful, purposely destroying the flag is no longer illegal.


Despite all that, the US Flag Code was never an enforceable act, only suggestions for honorable display and use.


20