Hammond man flies explicit, political flags in yard across from public park
HAMMOND, Ind. - A Hammond man is getting into some trouble for explicit and politically charged flags in his yard, which sits just across the street from a public park.
The man who lives in the blue house across from the baseball field in Hammond says he’s a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and he’s being persecuted for his politics.
But Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott says it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with one obscene word.
Roy Steffan, 67, is no fan of President Joe Biden and he made that clear on Sunday when he put up a flag on his front yard with Biden's name and a four letter word.
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He had flown the flag before, but this weekend there was a Little League baseball tournament at the field across the street from his home and some people complained.
On Monday, McDermott posted on Twitter that the city of Hammond would take legal action against Steffan if he flew the flag again.
"Nobody says that about the president of the United States. You may feel it but you're not going to fly it on a flag," McDermott said. "That's not going to happen without a fight from city hall. And you know the old saying, don't fight city hall. Like, this is something that's important to Hammond residents and it's my job to enforce the ordinances and that's what I'm going to do."
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Steffan says he checked the city and state ordinances and found nothing specifically banning that word.
He believes it’s protected political speech under the constitution, and doesn’t buy that it’s offensive to anybody.
He also has flags promoting gun rights, the military and Blue Lives Matter.
"It's my consitututional right. I mean if somebody was out there during the Trump presidency, and they had a flag out there that said F-Trump, I'm not gonna be calling no police, I'm not going to be calling no mayor," Steffan said.
Steffan took down all of his flags on Tuesday while he consults with an attorney, but he says he believes he’s being punished for his political beliefs because the mayor is a democrat.