<\/br>A civil rights group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Veterans Administration, claiming the free speech rights of a 67-year-old Army veteran were violated when a U.S. flag he hung upside down was confiscated.<\/p>\n
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<\/br>A civil rights group filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Veterans Administration, claiming the free speech rights of a 67-year-old Army veteran were violated when a U.S. flag he hung upside down was confiscated.<\/p>\n
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed the federal suit on behalf of Robert Rosebrock, one of a group of veterans who protested the VA\u2019s land-use policies every Sunday for the last two years outside its West Los Angeles complex.<\/p>\n
After protesting for more than a year with the U.S. flag hanging right side up on a fence outside the property, Rosebrock hung it upside down last June as a distress signal to bring attention to the group\u2019s cause, according to a statement released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Rosebrock was cited six times for \u201cunauthorized demonstration or service in a national cemetery or on other VA property," according to the ACLU.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Veterans Administration police demanded Feb. 28 that he take down the flag. When he refused, they removed it. <\/p>\n
An associate director for the Veterans Administration e-mailed Rosebrock to say that he and other demonstrators \u201cmay not attach the American flag, upside down, in VA property including our perimeter gates,\u201d the ACLU said.<\/p>\n
The ACLU contends the government has no right to selectively enforce the display of the flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government cannot say it\u2019s OK to hang the flag one way but not another just because the latter expresses a message that the government does not approve of,\u201d ACLU attorney Peter Eliasberg said in the statement. <\/p>\n
The Veterans Administration did not immediately return calls seeking comment. <\/p>\n
Rosebrock and other veterans have held their protests in a part of the complex that the Veterans Administration plans to lease as a park. But protesters argue that the space should be used for the benefit and care of veterans.<\/p>\n
— Tony Barboza <\/p>\n
Photo:\u00a0 Robert Rosebrock, left, a 67-year-old Army veteran, and Ernie Hilger, a Army veteran, hold the U.S.\u00a0flag upside down as a distress symbol, after a news conference at the Veterans Administration property in West Los Angeles, where the VA is planning to lease the area for use as a public park. Credit: Allen J. Schaben\u00a0 \/ Los Angeles Times<\/em><\/p>\n More breaking news in L.A. Now:<\/strong> <\/p>\n O.C. jails begin checking immigration status of all inmates<\/a> <\/p>\n Homicide Report: 10 killings last week in Los Angeles County<\/a><\/p>\n Freeway damage not related to Pico Rivera earthquake, engineers conclude<\/a><\/p>\n