Patriotic Americans congregated in front of the Turkish-American Community Center on Tuesday, May 10 at 9 a.m. in protest of an American flag that was being flown upside down in front of the building. Protestors held large American flags in front of the center, garnering honking horns from passing cars. Kim Jessome, a Clarksburg resident, first noticed the overturned flag as she was driving past the center on Rt. 33 in Manalapan on Monday, May 9. Jessome contacted her neighbor, Betty Bailey, who quickly drove to the center with her husband Bob to verify Jessome’s statement.
Bailey took numerous pictures of the inverted and tattered flag as indications of proof. Police showed up to the Turkish-American Community Center and told the Bailey’s that hanging an upside down American flag was not illegal, as it is an exercise in free speech, and that the forced removal of the flag would be illegal. Bailey notified numerous press outlets about the overturned flag and e-mailed the photographs she took as proof. An overturned American flag is sign that the country is in distress. According to 36 U.S.C. § 176 (a), “The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property”.
The Bailey’s are residents of Clarksburg and members of the Republican Club of Millstone Township. “It doesn’t matter whether you are Republican or Democrat, I would’ve done this anyway, no matter what. We can’t let people be complacent about this stuff, it’s gotta get out,” Bailey said. “I don’t fault the President of this club. I don’t think he did it, he came and faced us this morning. They have been hanging our flag correctly for the past 25 years.” The current president of the Turkish-American Community Center, Mehmet Reytas, told the protestors that he was unaware of the upside down flag and was not involved in its hanging, according to Bailey. “They knew what was going on -- they’re not stupid,” Jessome said. The man in charge of the groundskeeping came up to the protestors earlier in the morning in an agitated state and insisted that he was American-Turkish, according to Jessome.
“Well, I asked him if he was born American or if he is an immigrant. If you are Turkish-American born you should be ashamed of yourself, and if you are an immigrant you should be deported, do not pass go, go do this in another country,” Jessome declared. “There is no middle line here.” At 8:30 a.m. a resident of Bricktown arrived at the Turkish-American Community Center and removed the shredded, upside down flag. The man sent up a pristine American flag up the center pole, according to Michael Schwenk, the Commander of the VFW and a Manalapan resident. The man mistakenly believed that the American flag belonged on the center pole, between the two Turkish flags. In actuality, the American flag should always be on the right when being displayed with other flags, according to 4 U.S.C § 4(d).
At 8:45 a.m., witnesses claim that a Turkish man who worked for the center was removing a damaged, upside down flag from a pole, suggesting that someone removed the pristine American flag and replaced it with an upside down one immediately before the protest. “Besides it being upside down, it was all torn and tattered and you’re not supposed to fly a flag that’s torn and tattered. You are supposed to take them and it’s supposed to be burned,” Schwenk said. “They let it fly. Somebody put that flag up that way. Their [Turkish] flags were brand new -- shiny brand new flags. Our flag looked like hell.” Millstone Township Mayor Nancy Grbelja came to the protest to show her support.
“Well if it’s a sign of disrespect I am certainly not happy with it. Certainly in my position as mayor I’m committed to the United States, our American flag, and everything that our country stands for,” Mayor Grbelja said. “And it’s upsetting to me to have people be disrespectful to our values and to the United States -- especially now, when we have people that are risking their lives overseas to protect our freedoms.” “I kind of feel sorry for the president of the club because all of this is being thrown in his lap. But, as president of this Community Center, he should have full knowledge and control over what’s happening,” Jessome said. The president of the Turkish-American Community Center could not be reached for comment, at this time. Stay tuned to Patch.com as we continue to follow the breaks in this story.