Beyond The Broken Spectrum

Vito Congine Jr., an Iraq war veteran in Crivitz, Wisconsin was deprived of his first amendment rights to free speech after claiming that officers trespassed and stole his personal property. Hours before a Fourth of July parade, four police officers went to Congine’s property and removed his flag for flying it upside down under the advice of Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey, returning it the next day. When the ex-army veteran’s neighbor, Steven Klein approached the police asking them “What are you doing?”, they said, “It is none of your business.”

Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said it was not illegal to fly the flag upside down but people were upset and it was the Fourth of July, saying “It is illegal to cause a disruption.” Village President John Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it’s disrespectful to fly the flag upside down, replying “If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it.” It wasn’t known until now that the protection of free speech ends when it offends someone.

It now appears that the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village of Crivitz for violating Vito Congine Jr.’s’ First Amendment rights, according to the Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. “It is not often that you see something this blatant,” Ahmuty said.

In mid June he began flying his flag upside down as a means of signaling distress outside the restaurant he wants to open in Crivitz, a village of around 1,000 people about 65 miles north of Green Bay. He said his distress is likely bankruptcy because the village board refused to grant him a liquor license after he spent nearly $200,000 to buy and remodel a downtown building for an Italian supper club. However, the citizens of Crivitz have seen the flying of the flag upside down as disrespectful. He says he will continue to fly the flag upside down though, saying “It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else, and then I come home to find it right here at my front door.”

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