Can this be true?
A government agency has Wrentham, Massachusetts has banned tenants at a public housing complex from displaying the American flag outside of their homes.
The Wrentham Housing Authority announced the ban to residents through a letter taped to their doors on Wednesday. The unsigned letter states that the policy was enacted in response to a complaint filed by one of the tenants to the state Department of Housing and Community Development over the Fourth of July.
The letter said: “Wrentham Housing Authority has been informed that the public display of the American flag in common areas is not permitted.” It goes on to say that tenants may still display flags inside their homes, but not outside.
As The Sun Chronicle reports, Barbara Marshall, one of the Wrentham tenants, refuses to take down her flag. (She is the only resident still hanging a flag outside her home). Marshall said veterans have played an important role in her family history. “All my family is so indebted to the veterans, to that flag.”
The Wrentham Housing Authority gave no further explanation for the ban, nor did it provide details of the solitary tenant’s complaints.
UPDATE:
The Boston Globe reports that Jason Lefferts, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community, has announced the immediate reversal of the flag ban. “We were not aware of this decision when it was made, and it was a mistake that is being corrected immediately,” said Lefferts.
The ban caught the attention of Sen. Scott Brown (R., Mass.) who lives in Wrentham. Brown told The Globe that he was “deeply disturbed to learn of the misguided decision.” He went on to say “Flying the American flag should never be controversial, and no citizen should ever be prevented from doing so.”