American Flag: Pennsylvania Man Arrested For Painting ‘AIM’ On Flag Gets $55K In Damages [Video]


Joshuaa Brubaker, a Pennsylvania man arrested for spray painting his American flag, which he kept flying upside-down in his yard, is getting over $55,000 in a free speech lawsuit. The case began over two years ago, reports Fox News, when the Pennsylvania man’s American flag was deemed offensive by a neighbor.

In March 2014, Brubaker’s American flag was flying on the front porch of his home roughly 90 miles east of Pittsburgh. The American flag was both upside down and painted with the letters “AIM.” Reportedly, the display offended a veteran living in the area, who then reported the “desecrated” American flag to local law enforcement.

Pennsylvania has state-specific “flag desecration” laws, and as such, the Pennsylvania man was arrested for insulting the national flag and flag desecration. Both crimes are misdemeanors that carry potential incarceration sentences, as well as thousands of dollars in fines. Unfortunately for the township that arrested the Pennsylvania man, the Supreme Court doesn’t allow people to be charged with desecrating the American flag if they do so for expressive purposes.

Because of established federal law, the American Flag-related charges against the Pennsylvania man were ultimately dropped. After the criminal charges against him had been dropped, the Pennsylvania man was represented in court by the ACLU in a civil case he filed against the township that arrested him illegally.

“The U.S. Supreme Court law is very clear that you cannot charge someone with using the flag for expressive purposes, like drawing on it or burning it.”

Allegheny Township supervisors not only approved the more than $55,000 settlement (which will be paid to the Pennsylvania man by the township’s insurance company), but they have also approved a resolution within their town which will no longer allow local police to enforce Pennsylvania’s flag desecration laws within township limits. The agreement was reached on July 12.

“The problem is that every couple years we get a report that someone’s been charged with insulting the flag or desecrating the flag under Pennsylvania laws.”

Ironically, the Pennsylvania man had his American flag seized and was charged for his alleged “crimes” by Leo Berg III. At the time of the American flag arrest, Berg was the assistant chief of his department, a department he now leads. And a department for which he can no longer charge citizens with American flag desecration-related crimes.

[Image via Shutterstock]
Joshuaa Brubaker, the Pennsylvania man arrested for painting his American flag and who was ultimately awarded over $55,000 because the arrest violated his First Amendment rights, says that he painted the letters “AIM” on the American flag in protest of the Keystone Pipeline, which was supposed to be routed through Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

The Pennsylvania man has Native American ancestry, and according to him, “AIM” is the acronym for the American Indian Movement. He stated that he was protesting the proposed construction in the city of Wounded Knee because it is the site of the massacre of roughly 200 Native Americans by the American federal government in 1890.

According to the Pennsylvania man, he had a very specific reason for his alleged desecration of the American flag.

“I figured with this generation, if someone drove by this house and saw “AIM” that they’d search for the term online and learn more about the group and its causes.”

Brubaker said he flew his American flag upside-down to signal the distress that he thinks the nation is in.

[Image via Shutterstock]
Brubaker said that he decided to file his civil suit against his local township after the criminal charges against him were dropped. According to the judge in the criminal case, the criminal charges levied against the Pennsylvania man were inapplicable in an instance of political speech.

While Brubaker won the settlement he sought against the township that falsely arrested him in violation of federal law, he will have to pay all court costs and attorney fees out of his settlement.

What do you think? Was Allegheny Township correct in agreeing to the financial settlement and further agreeing not to enforce flag desecration laws? Did the Pennsylvania man do the right thing by suing the town over the American flag criminal charges?

[Image via Shutterstock]

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