A mayor in Washington state blew up on an LGBTQ activist after she described the city flying the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag as a “political stunt” during the public comment portion of the city council meeting on Tuesday.
The exchange took place near the end of the Newcastle City Council meeting between Mayor Robert Clark and a woman whose first name is Jen. Newcastle is a suburb of Seattle.
Jen was the first person to speak after Clark opened the floor for public comment, and she began by stating she hopes the mayor will support the pride flag “in proclamation this year” since he has a “new-found appreciation” for flags besides the American flag.
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She was referencing a vote by the city council last year to not fly the pride flag over city hall during pride month, which was later flipped after public outrage. At the time, Clark told local outlet KOMO that if the pride flag was going to be flown, then everybody’s flag had to be flown.
“Do you want a Hamas flag flying over the City of Newcastle? Or a MAGA flag? How about a Trump flag or an Antifa flag? We’re not going there folks,” Clark stated. “Everybody is equally represented by the American flag.”
Jen said while she is “very much in support” of veterans, POWs and MIAs, she thinks flying the POW/MIA flag “100 days a year is a political stunt.”
Jen then began comparing the population of American POWs or MIAs with how many Americans fall under the LGBTQ community, suggesting that the pride flag represents more people.
“My research shows that there have been 82,000 Americans who are registered as POWs or MIAs, which is atrocious and horrible, and it should never happen to any American, but there [are] 20 million minimum LGBTQ members,” she stated.
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She then accused council members of being hypocritical and fulfilling special interests by choosing to fly a POW/MIA flag over city hall and not a pride flag.
“I think that your approach to trying to trick people out of having to fly the pride flag in June by making sure that the POW/MIA flag was flown is really disgusting. Again, it is not impartial in any way, and I think that you should be ashamed. I definitely am,” Jen said before walking off.
Her comments set a fire under the mayor, who said he doesn’t typically respond to public comment, but he “will not sit here and have somebody tell me that veterans are a political stunt.”
Some in the audience could be heard clapping as Clark fired back at the woman, adding, “How dare you?”
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“This country was founded because veterans lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands of people died for this country so that you could fly your pride flag,” Clark said while looking in her direction.
He apologized for being “pissed” and “out of line,” but warned her “do not ever disparage veterans in my presence.”
“Those 82,000 people who never came home will never have a chance to have a family or grow up while you can fly your pride flag,” he said. “They sacrificed their lives all over the world for America and for freedom around the world.”
The mayor appeared to be aware of Jen’s opinions, stating that he “tolerates” her comments despite them always being “on the attack” and “libelous.”
“I tolerate it because, you know, you probably can’t help yourself, but don’t ever disparage veterans in front of me,” he said as someone in the audience could be heard trying to talk back.
“Don’t ever disparage veterans in front of me,” Clark repeated.
“And we’re done,” he said before opening up the floor to the next speaker.
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