Swastika Flag Has Whitpain Township Residents On Edge
Alas, there's not much you can do about it, as the residents are now learning.
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Resident Flies a Swastika Flag In Whitpain Township Outside of Philadelphia
Whitpain Township is a small and generally pretty quiet suburb of Philadelphia, not often the center of controversy or in the news for bad things. But that all changed over the weekend when a Whitpain Township resident flew a swastika flag outside their home. The incident perhaps not coincidentally coincided with the anniversary of Nazi Germany's terrifying Kristallnacht .
"We're all horrified by this," one Whitpain Township resident told me, requesting to remain anonymous out of concern for his family's safety.
Residents have filed complaints with the Whitpain Township Police Department as well as with the town's elected officials. Alas, there's not much anyone can do about the display of the swastika flag.
"It's in horrible taste, to say the least," Whitpain Township police sergeant Jonathan Gallagher, who is in charge of community relations, told me on Thursday morning. "Some information was put out there — not by us — about the location of the house with the flag, and now we have to protect that person as much as we don't agree with the flag. We have to protect them and their First Amendment rights. At this point, this is not a criminal matter, and we are just trying to keep the peace."
Gallagher says that the department has not spoken with the resident of the home.
The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors released the following statement:
The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors has been made aware of the recent display of a Nazi flag in the Township. Both collectively and as individuals, we find this demonstration abhorrent, shocking, and offensive. There is no excuse nor any explanation for flying this flag. Full stop. That flag was and remains contrary to all that we believe in and all that our Township represents. Now, as established by the Supreme Court of the United States, we recognize this display is protected free speech under the First Amendment. Accordingly, while Whitpain Township is prohibited from and will not be taking any action toward the display, as individuals who live here, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We will not be silent in the face of evil. We trust our community will join us.
Some residents have begun to display "Hate Has No Home Here" signs. And there's a demonstration planned for this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. outside the Blue Bell branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library.
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