NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — There’s a flag flap in Ocean View after someone snapped two flag stands, one of them flying a flag in support of President Trump and the other an American flag, according to video of the incident.
In video sent to 10 On Your Side from the Reed family, a man walked onto their private property and snapped both flag stands — ripping up a Trump flag and sending an American flag to the ground.
“We understand the Trump flag to an extent,” said the flags’ owner, Luke Reed. “You know, you’re not going to not have everyone be on the same page about everything and like the same candidate or whatnot, but to do it to the American flag, that’s another story.”
The Reed family uses the two flags and a cross as the marker for the start of the property, which sits close to the East Ocean View Community Center.
“We just felt that regardless of the way that you feel, the American flag is an embodiment of our shared heritage and that, regardless of your political stance, it’s something that we should be unified on together,” Reed said.
Reed said he tried to talk with the man while he was tearing down the flags, but got no response.
“I spoke to him over the camera,” Reed said. “I said, ‘What are you doing? What do you think you’re doing?’ And he just walked right on by. He doesn’t care. And that kind of disregard for our country.”
He added that the person never covered their face in any of the videos.
“Just to see somebody without regard, not even wanting to cover their face, to commit vandalism and to come on to our property and destroy it, we were filled with rage,” Reed said.
The family has filed a police report with the Norfolk Police Department, and the flags are back up.
“We replaced the American flag with the new one because you’re not supposed to put up the same American flag after it touches the ground,” Reed said. “A lot of veterans get angry. And so we wanted to just get it up as quickly as possible and show that we’re not going to stand for it.”
If you have any information, contact Norfolk Police.
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