Posted on 11/30/2017 10:08:31 AM PST by nickcarraway
Activist Gene Stilp has burned a combined Confederate-Nazi flag in front of a number of courthouses in Pennsylvania without incident.
But after the Middle Paxton Township resident Tuesday staged one of his demonstrations outside the Union County Courthouse, he was handed a citation for violating Lewisburg's opening burning law.
It was the first time since he began his protests has he been fined, but Stilp said he was "happy to pay" it because he fully supports Lewisburg's ordinance. He called it a "citation of honor."
Confederate-Nazi flag burning in Bloomsburg He was made aware in advance he would be violating the borough ordinance, Buffalo Valley Regional Police Chief Paul Yost said.
Stilp was cooperative and assisted in providing information for the citation before the flag was burned in a can on the South Second Street side of the courthouse, the chief said.
Following the demonstration attended by about 20 people, he went into the courthouse to the office of District Judge Leo Armbruster and paid the $100 fine plus $84 in costs.
Stilp was treated no differently than anyone else, Yost said. Not charging him could have set a precedent about opening burning in the borough that is home to Bucknell University, he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Stilp burned another of his flags in front of the Northumberland County courthouse in Sunbury.
He had planned to do the same Wednesday in York County but postponed those plans a week after York County commissioners denied his request for a permit.
Stilp describes the flag burnings are an educational effort aimed at showing the the Confederate and Nazi flags are symbols of racism, bigotry, hate and intimidation.
During the Lewisburg demonstration Stilp briefly got down on one knee to show his support for those NFL players who kneel during the playing of the National Anthem as a protest to social injustice and police brutality.
Stilp has taken his flag-burning protests beyond Pennsylvania, including to three NASCAR race locations.
What is a Confederate-Nazi flag? Aren't they two different things?
Another attention seeker virtue signaling.
It’s not like he’s inciting or instigating or anything, right?
He carries a Nazi flag around with him wherever he goes. I think that makes hima Nazi.
We sure pander to the perpetually obtuse these days.
Nazi and Confederate governmental systems are polar opposites. She should be fined for public stupidity.
Arson as a “citation of honor”.
What a dope.
I wonder where I can get me a New York City/Commie flag.
If he tries it in Northumberland County (adjoining Union County) they will hang him by his nads from the flag pole in Cameron Park, right in front of the courthouse.
Oh, He already did without announcement in Northumberland County.. This is in central PA, also referred to as Pennsyltucky!
Back in the late 1960s, a friend of mine was a student at a major state university. As part of a small group demonstrating in favor of the US war in Viet Nam, he burned a North Vietnamese flag in front of the university administration building. As the embers died, a grinning campus cop approached in a friendly manner and told them that they could demonstrate as they liked but could not burn anything or give out food as part of a demonstration. My friend proudly kept a photo of that flag burning on his office wall for the rest of his life.
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