Guy Who Won't Take Down Trump Flag Faces Jail

He could get 90 days under NJ ordinance
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 9, 2016 7:55 AM CDT
Guy Who Won't Take Down Trump Flag Faces Jail
A supporter shows a Donald Trump "Make America Great Again" flag before a rally in Florida.   (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

"I'm not a football fan, I'm not a sports fan, but I'm surely a Donald Trump fan," Joe Hornick tells NBC 4. The New Jersey man has been flying a Trump flag outside his home for months and he says he will go to jail rather than obey an ordinance in the town of West Long Branch against flying political flags more than 30 days before an election. New Jersey holds its primary on June 7, meaning it will be weeks before Hornick can legally fly the "Make America Great Again" banner. He has already been ticketed, and people have ripped down his flag at least five times. "I have a warehouse on alert, and I'll put up a flag every time they tear one down," Hornick says.

Hornick—who says that if Trump loses, he'll rip up his registration card and never vote again—could get 90 days' jail time or a $2,000 fine if he doesn't take down the flag. Hornick says that he has a constitutional right to fly the flag, and the American Civil Liberties Union is supporting him, reports NY 101.5. According to Eugene Volokh at the Washington Post, Hornick is right: Banning political signs or placing similar restrictions on the content of signs violates the First Amendment, Volokh writes, though the city would be within its rights to apply content-neutral restrictions that applied to all signs. (Trump had a rough night Saturday.)

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