Jim Broussard

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Jim Brossard is the U.S. Army veteran who, angered by a Reno bar owner's flying a Mexican flag above the American flag, cut the U.S. flag down. He is variously being hailed as a hero and a patriot or decried as a criminal and a vigilante for this act.

On October 2, 2007, Brossard heard on a local talk radio show that the Cantina El Jaripeo near downtown Reno was flying a Mexican flag above a US flag, drove to the site and cut down the flags.[1]

Brossard appeared with talk radio host Bill Manders on Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto on October 3 and said that he "heard on Bill Manders' show that the flags were flying as they were. I found it disturbing to the point that I had to do something about it. I grabbed my Ka-Bar, I went down there, I left my vehicle a couple of doors down, I found TV cameras rolling as I walked up, I did what was in my heart."[2]

Talk radio host Mike Gallagher told Broussard during an October 3 interview, "I can promise you that Americans view you as a hero."[3] During that interview Broussard explained that his primary concern was what Gallagher referred to as the 'Hispanification' of America. Broussard said, "I feel there’s a lot of this turning our heads on things in concern to the Hispanic community and the things they do. They seem impervious to our laws in a lot of situations."

A veterans' group, the U.S.S. Intrepid Association Inc., in November of 2007 presented Broussard with a U.S. flag that had been raised over the Intrepid July 12, 2007.[4]

Although Cavuto[5] , Gallagher[6] and other reporters stated that flying the U.S. flag in this manner is illegal, the Reno Police Department and the Nevada chapter of the ACLU issued separate press releases stating that while both U.S. code and Nevada statutes contain protocols relating to the display of the American flag, the protocols are advisory only and carry no sanctions for violation.[7][8]

The Director for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Bob Fulkerson, called Broussard's actions "criminal."[9] Right Wing Watch, the online newsmagazine of People for the American Way, called him a vigilante. [10]

The owner of the bar did not press charges against Broussard.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Veteran:'fight me for this flag", Reno Gazette-Journal, Oct 3 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28. 
  2. ^ Jim Broussard, Bill Manders, Neil Cavuto. Interview [Television]. Fox News.
  3. ^ Jim Broussard, Mike Gallagher. Interview [radio].
  4. ^ "Man who cut down U.S. flag honored", Reno Gazette-Journal, Nov 21 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28. 
  5. ^ Jim Broussard, Bill Manders, Neil Cavuto. Interview [Television]. Fox News.
  6. ^ Jim Broussard, Mike Gallagher. Interview [radio].
  7. ^ "Police share details on flag flying", Reno Gazette-Journal, Oct 3 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28. 
  8. ^ "Reno police, ACLU join flap over Mexican flag", Las Vegas Sun, Oct 3 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28. 
  9. ^ "Man who cut down U.S. flag honored", Reno Gazette-Journal, Nov 21 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28. 
  10. ^ Kautz, Ezra (Oct 4 2007). Worried about 'Hispanification,' Vigilante Ties in Flag Debate. RightWingWatch. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  11. ^ "Vet cuts down Mexican flag flying above U.S. banner", WorldNetDaily, Oct 4 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.