A Kansas City, Missouri woman who recently installed an American flag on her porch in anticipation of the Memorial Day weekend — an ode to her father, a Vietnam War veteran, and her step-son serving on active duty in the military.
On Thursday, The Cordillera Ranch Apartments where she lives along Highway 152 ordered her to remove it or the complex’s manager “will dispose of” the flag for her, Fox 4 reports.
“Problem: American Flag on Deck,” read a note that greeted Kerry White when she arrived home from work on Thursday.
“Your lease agreement states that patios and balconies are to be kept clean and orderly, and are not to be used for storage,” the note read. “You are in violation of your lease, and we request that you correct this matter as soon as possible.
“Please be advised that if the item(s) are not removed within 24 hours, we will dispose of them,” it continued.
“It really bothers me to think I can’t support my troops,” White told Fox 4. “It’s our country. Support our country, support our troops. They go out and they fight for our country and they defend us so why wouldn’t we want to fly an American flag to support them?”
“It says the only problem on my balcony is my American flag,” she said. “I don’t understand how an American flag is a problem.
Fox 4 attempted to get answers to White’s questions but received the run-around from Cordillera Ranch.
According to the news site:
FOX 4 spent hours on Friday trying to get answers from the apartment complex management. When we called the first time, an employee said they could not comment. After FOX 4 called a second time asking for a manager staff gave us a number but the manager never called us back. Texts were also not returned. Then, staff said we had to call their New York office and that office never called FOX 4 back either.
White said she’s not the only person at Cordillera Ranch who is upset about the flag ban.
“We’ve talked to a couple of our neighbors, and they’re all ex-military. Some of them are actually active military,” she said. “And they were pretty upset about it to know they can’t have something like that displayed.”
White also said she removed the flag, for now, out of fear that apartment officials with enter her apartment and seize it if she didn’t.
“When you told me you’re going to dispose of an American flag, how are you going to dispose of it?” White questioned. “Are you going to throw it in the trash?”
White said she’s now seeking the help of an attorney to fight back against the Cordillera Ranch.
It’s not the first time an apartment complex has attempted to bully residents into concealing their patriotism.
Last June, Greeley, Colorado resident Samuel Adams took to YouTube to vent frustrations about the Sterling Heights Apartment complex where he lives after he received a similar removal notice over an American flag hanging from his balcony in anticipation of the July 4 holiday, The American Mirror previously reported.
Adams, however, refused to remove his American flag and his video went viral online with scores of folks supporting his defiance.
“I thought it was just going to be a whisper but it has avalanched,” he told the Greeley Tribune. “I’m the kind of guy that when I see a man or woman in uniform, I go up to them and say, ‘thank you for your service.’ I gladly accept the responsibility given to me of standing up for the veterans and families that have reached out to me.”
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