In defense of the American flag
From the Tulsa World:
A U.S. Marine Corps reservist won’t be charged for ignoring police requests and wading into a protest to rescue an American Flag.
Ray Adam Modisette, 20, said he was reacting to a war protester who was stuffing an American flag down her pants.
Midwest City Assistant City Attorney Randal Homburg said he thinks there are grounds to prosecute Modisette for an act of civil disobedience, but he said that at the request of police, he’s declining to file charges.
Modisette of Shawnee was arrested Friday afternoon on a complaint of interfering with official police process.
“We believe the act was emotional and not really deliberate,” Midwest City Police Chief Brandon Clabes said. “It caused us to take action, but we hated to have to do it.”
Modisette was leaving Tinker Air Force Base in his car Friday when he saw the protester with the flag. He said he turned around and headed for the crowd to get the flag. He was handcuffed after ignoring several requests by officers to move away from the small group of demonstrators from Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan.
Pat Dollard has background.
Modisette posted $850 bail — money he said he earned during a deployment to Iraq — and was released on Friday.
Reservist finds supporters
With prosecutors declining a case against Modisette, he will be refunded the $850, which he was willing to pay. “I think it would have been money well-spent,” Modisette said Monday. “I guess a lot of people on Ol’ Glory’s side felt the same way.”Several Oklahomans said they were willing to help him pay potential fines.
Mitch Logston of Oklahoma City said he and about nine other friends collected $500 for Modisette. He said many of them have children in the military, some serving in Iraq.
June Parsons, 73, of Stillwater said the incident brought back bad memories of anti-military sentiment during the Vietnam War. Her husband was killed fighting in Vietnam, she said.
“If I was there I would have wanted to do the same thing and probably gotten the snot knocked out of me,” Parsons said. “I’m proud of that young man for standing up.”
Mike Chase, a reserve deputy with the Oklahoma County sheriff’s office, was among about 150 people who showed up Friday to demonstrate against the church group. Chase, who lost his son, Lance Michael Chase, in January 2006 in Iraq, said he could relate to both the emotions expressed by Modisette and the reaction of police.
“They (Westboro members) were exercising their rights that my son and thousands of others gave their lives for,” Chase said. “I don’t blame (Modisette) — it was definitely hard for me to take, too.”
If police hadn’t stepped in, the situation could have erupted and people could have been hurt, Chase said.
Police interference may have even spared Modisette a potential lawsuit from the Westboro group, if the situation had turned physical, he said.
Chase said that after the publicity generated by Modisette’s arrest, he fielded more than a dozen calls from people wanting to contribute money.
Modisette, an aviation mechanic student at Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, said support has been overwhelming, but the Marine reservist declined offers of financial assistance.
“The way I was raised was the reason I couldn’t drive by and watch that go on,” he said. “There’s liberty, and then there’s ridiculous.”
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Big ups Modisette!
top man.
Wow, they have time to arrest a Marine, but Berkeley cops can’t seem to have the guts to arrest the Pinkos for slapping people.
Me too.
Agreed!
Oklahoma is the backbone of America.
Berkeley Police are under orders, I think, to not support those that support the troops. I wouldn’t want to be a Berkeley cop.
God Bless the Marines and this man!
Way to go Modisette. You have done a proud thing for your parents and this country.
The WBC are scum and this young man is a true patriot. Well done.
Bless you.
Semper Fidelis Marine.
You go American trooper, don’t hide your pride.
It’s really sick that …
ANARCHIST speech (behavior) is protected
PATRIOTIC speech (behavior) is fined.
Your tax dollars at work.
Collin
http://evangelicalperspective.blogspot.com
Good for him! WBC is an abomination.
Those that deliberately desecrate the flag should have their citizenship revoked - free speech be damned! The Supreme Court made two extraordinarily bad decisions in the Flower Power days - desecrating the flag is ‘free speech’ and killing babies is ‘a right’. May those that voted these things burn in hell.
Semper Fi! Go Marines!
Good thing they decided not to press charges.
I’m thinking that charging a U.S. Marine with defended the American flag may not go over well in the court of public opinion.
Ooo-rah!!!
Makes me proud to be an Okie. May God bless you, Marine Modisette and may He also continue to watch over all of our best and brightest who are serving our country.
That is an outstanding idea. The Supreme court needs to have a case just like this, to set things right again.
Salute to a true American hero! I am glad the dirtbags attempting to desecrate my country’s flag decided not to press charges there are really pressing the envelope by screwing with the symbol a GI is willing to lay down their personal freedoms and life for.
Church? I think not. Although, there is a “church” of satan so, I guess they can call themselves a church too.
I am proud of this youmg man.
This is what a REAL man looks like.
Two thumbs way up for this fine, upstanding young Marine reservist.. oorah!
Good for him!
Bravo!
Oklahoma is the backbone of America.
I agree with you fairyfoose. I’m glad I live in one of the last relatively sane places on earth.
I’m glad that a servicemans right to protect the flag that he took an OATH to protect is recognized more than some idiots right to desecrate that flag.
Too bad he’ll never be remembered like another similar patriot, Rick Monday.
This marine is what our military is about. God bless him and all serving in our military.
L
Lest we forget:
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If we ever forget that we are one nation under God we will be a nation gone under.”
-Ronald Reagan
what a great story. Good for you, Marine!
I’ve seen these low-lifes in person when riding with the Patriot Guard. It makes you want to run your bike right into them. But, thankfully there are American patriots who counter their hate while we do our jobs honoring the fallen.
I know he couldn’t help himself from saving the flag from desecration. That, however, isn’t his job. He’s a member of the military, even as a reservist his job is to not involve himself in political demonstration of any kind.
It’s the same as the homeowner who had the burglar injure himself on breaking glass during a forced entry. The damm burglar wanted to charge the homeowner!
So, the Marine runs afoul of the law, while the aszhat gets away with anything.
Now, all of this to say that it is MY job as a civilian/veteran to protect that flag. The bennies of not being in the service anymore! And, take note. I use more prejudice when I defend the flag.
Somebody has to stand up to these sickening reprobates. Nobody better than a U.S. Marine. That flag is not toilet paper, it represents everything we hold dear, even the free speech of these jerks.
Semper Fi bro.
Makes me swell with pride when I see a member of the military act in such a manner…they are what makes us America.
Semper Fi
OORAH! Marine…. Good Job!
Guess you didn’t have to to slap a “kick me” sticker on her back… that would have been “free speech” and the cops would not have arrested you.
They don’t put their country first for the money. It is something they do out of love for their country.
Yeah, I think there are to many people who have forgotten their manners and how to respect one another. Perhaps the WBC folks weren’t spanked as children… whatever the case they are lowlifes and I am so glad that this young Marine isn’t being charged for standing up for what he believes in.
We support you!
This frightens me. The laws are on the side of the unpatriotic loser and against the upstanding pround American defending his Nations flag?
In May when they have the illegal alien march, I’ll be protesting by burning the Mexican Flag in front of them. Sure, I’ll be arrested (and probablly beaten) but ITS MY COUNTRY AND MY FREE Speech!!
John #30: This frightens me too! However, I’m a retiree now and I would not hesitate to go kick some a–hat butt if I had seen this. This young man acted emotionally because he loves being a Marine and he loves our country. I’m thankful so many stepped up to help him if needed. If they have an illegal alien march here, I will also take pleasure in protesting their protest. Take heart, John, there are more of us than there are of them!
That is very interesting. Keep us posted about that, in particular whether the ACLU comes leaping to defend your free speech rights pro-bono.
What are the odds that YOU will be sued for anti-hispanic hate speech, not protected, and Geraldo will spit on you on TV.
I’m not the first to come up with the idea of burning the Mexican flag and I’m sure I won’t be the last.
Thanks for your posts, Firstskirt and Brian72.
Don’t forget Rick Monday!
As a Marine he’s sworn an oath to protect that flag against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. I say he was just fulfilling a federal duty.
We’ve reached a point where seditious acts are protected speech while proud acts of a nation preserving itself are arrestable offenses.
“There’s liberty and then there’s ridiculous” Modisette-military
“Don’t get stuck on stupid” Lt.Gen.Honore-military
Both statements have a poetic beat. Both show great intelligence and perception.
Wait- didn’t a Democrat candidate recently state that those who enter the military have low IQ s or lack of education?
Another Democrat proven to be incorrect.
Well,Get Some, Marine.
The recent Supreme Court review on the 2nd amendment and some of the history behind it got me to thinking about the illegal alien marches coming up. In the 1st amendment it says “…or the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”. Common definitions indicate “people” are the people of the United States. With that in mind, illegal aliens surely do not have a right to assemble guaranteed to them by the Constitution SINCE IT DOES NOT APPLY TO THEM.
Thank you, Corona #34, for mentioning Rick Monday, the baseball player who would not allow some hippies to light on fire the American Flag on the baseball field. I really appreciate you bringing that up–what a great moment and demonstration of true patriotism by Monday. I can’t figure out how to link the YouTube Video, but you can go there and see it! Thanks again Corona (good on ya).
Actually, there’s liberty and then there are ridiculous, seditious, ignorant idiots.