Neighbors Grapple With Swastika Flag in Philly Burbs
Alas, there's not much you can do about it, as the residents are now learning.
A municipal sign for Philadelphia suburb Whitpain Township, where a swastika flag has been on display (photo via Whitpain Township)
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Resident Flies a Swastika Flag In Whitpain Township Outside of Philadelphia
Whitpain Township is a small and generally pretty quiet suburb of Philadelphia, not often the center of controversy or in the news for bad things. But that all changed over the weekend when a Whitpain Township resident flew a swastika flag outside their home. The incident perhaps not coincidentally coincided with the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s terrifying Kristallnacht.
“We’re all horrified by this,” one Whitpain Township resident told me, requesting to remain anonymous out of concern for his family’s safety.
Residents have filed complaints with the Whitpain Township Police Department as well as with the town’s elected officials. Alas, there’s not much anyone can do about the display of the swastika flag.
“It’s in horrible taste, to say the least,” Whitpain Township police sergeant Jonathan Gallagher, who is in charge of community relations, told me on Thursday morning. “Some information was put out there — not by us — about the location of the house with the flag, and now we have to protect that person as much as we don’t agree with the flag. We have to protect them and their First Amendment rights. At this point, this is not a criminal matter, and we are just trying to keep the peace.”
Gallagher says that the department has not spoken with the resident of the home.
The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors released the following statement:
The Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors has been made aware of the recent display of a Nazi flag in the Township. Both collectively and as individuals, we find this demonstration abhorrent, shocking, and offensive. There is no excuse nor any explanation for flying this flag. Full stop. That flag was and remains contrary to all that we believe in and all that our Township represents. Now, as established by the Supreme Court of the United States, we recognize this display is protected free speech under the First Amendment. Accordingly, while Whitpain Township is prohibited from and will not be taking any action toward the display, as individuals who live here, we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We will not be silent in the face of evil. We trust our community will join us.
Some residents have begun to display “Hate Has No Home Here” signs. And there’s a demonstration planned for this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. outside the Blue Bell branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library.
Speaking of Nazis…
Last week, I told you about a bizarre “festival” I recently attended in the Poconos, a festival run by a gun-worshipping MAGA church that happens to be presided over by the son of Moonies founder Sun Myung Moon. There were lots of speakers at the festival. Lots of wing nuts and conspiracy theorists and a pastor wearing a crown of sniper bullets on his head. What I didn’t know at the time was that Donald Trump was going to be the next President of the United States and what I certainly never could have predicted was that one of the speakers at the festival was going to be tapped by Trump to be his “border czar.” What could possibly go wrong?
Johnny Doc for Secretary of Energy?
I’m kidding, of course. But with this strange list of Trump nominees that even has some Republican leaders alarmed, who’s to know? Wilson Goode to head FEMA?
By the Numbers
2: Terrifying roller coasters being retired by New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure. The chopping block includes Kingda Ka — the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world — which took riders up higher than the PECO building. I say good riddance!
$230: Current retail cost of the ChompSaw, a safe-for-kids tool whose inventors are Penn alums appearing with the tool on Shark Tank this Friday.
46 degrees: Forecasted temperature for kickoff time at the Linc tonight for the Eagles vs. Commanders game. Sometimes a stool at the neighborhood bar just seems like a better idea.
