A New Jersey township that came under fire for banning the use of the American flag as a “prop” during town council meetings caused “chaos” after the council president had residents removed for holding the meeting. I tried to apologize for that.
Edison Township was embroiled in controversy after Council President Nish Patel proposed a policy that: ordinance The idea is to limit the use of “props” during public comment in late November, according to the Edison Reporter.
O.2239-2024 did not specifically name these items, but when asked directly whether he would allow the U.S. flag and Constitution, Patel replied: That phone. ”
During discussion of the ordinance, City Council Vice President Margot Harris asked, “Why aren't expressive props part of the First Amendment?”
Edison resident and attorney Joel Basoff said: deleted Fox News reported that police at a town council meeting held up personal-sized flags as part of a protest against the rules.
A video of the meeting shared by the Garden State Instagram account shows the moment Patel ordered officers to escort Basov away.
“It's my constitutional right to do this,” the lawyer said, drawing applause from other residents as he told the city council president he would “lose” a legal battle over the ordinance.
“Your position should be revoked. Your actions deprive you of any right to preside over this meeting,” Basov continued as officers tried to force him to sit down. .
“Police officers, if you could just fire him,” Patel asked into the microphone, an idea that other members of the committee also vocally supported.
The police followed the instructions of the MPs and removed Basov from the meeting, even though he had already returned to his seat.
The video received hundreds of critical comments, including one who said, “This is why New Jersey will be red in the next election.”
“As a leftist voter, this is unconstitutional,” another commenter wrote. “All Americans have the right to defend the flags and civilities of their country, culture, and traditions as long as they do not harm others.”
Joe Romano, vice president of the Edison Board of Education, also spoke negatively about the ordinance at the meeting. In a statement to Fox News, he said other residents were “shocked” when Patel ordered Basov to leave.
“People get elected and people think they know better because I got elected, but let’s be honest, this is a power trip,” Romano said. “I'm sorry. You're right. You're supposed to be there representing the people. Guys. Not half of it, it's all of it.”
After being threatened with legal action by the Foundation for Individual Rights Expression (FIRE), Patel apologized for the “confusion” over the prop ban.
“Let me be clear: The Edison Board of Trustees has never banned the Star-Spangled Banner from public meetings, and we will never do so,” Patel said in a statement to the media. “Both our national flag and state flag are displayed prominently in the chambers of Congress. We proudly and humbly begin each council meeting by pledging allegiance to our flag… ”
“It was never the intention of this council to ban the American flag,” he added. “If my comments at the last board meeting implied anything like that, I apologize.”
Edison Mayor Sam Joshi also denied in an Instagram post Wednesday that the American flag was ever “banned.”
Councilman Richard Bresher, one of the two City Council members who voted against Patel's ordinance, called it “un-American and unconstitutional.”
“That's what I call BS,” he told Fox News about Patel's apology.
“Many towns in this country have problems with elected officials trying to silence the public, and ours is no exception,” he continued. “They went too far by calling the flag a prop.”
Bresher added that even after Patel and Joshi apologized, the ordinance has not yet been repealed.
“If you truly said you didn't mean what you said in the video that we all saw, you should retract that statement. This is typical of my mayor and his four council members.” said, and then said Patel was in Joshi's “pocket”.
“They lie. They say it was a mistake, but they haven't repealed the law, so it remains illegal in Edison…That's what they consistently do here, just It's just the public trying to shut down their voices and voices because we live in one of the freest countries in the world, and the law allows them to say that.”
