New Jersey Homeowner May Face Jail for Flying Trump Flag

A New Jersey man faces fines or jail time for flying Donald Trump campaign flags in front of his home.

Joe Hornick has been flying the flags since February and faces up to a $2,000 fine or 90 days in jail for allegedly violating a local ordinance that restricts posting political lawn signs more than 30 days before an election. The local NBC affiliate reports:

Joe Hornick has been flying Trump’s “Make America Great Again” flag outside his West Long Branch home on a busy corner near the Monmouth University campus for months.

But he got a ticket recently citing him for illegally posting political signage more than 30 days before an election. The New Jersey presidential primary isn’t until June 7.

“I’m not a football fan, I’m not a sports fan, but I’m surely a Donald Trump fan,” he told NBC 4 New York.

Hornick actually flies two Trump flags day and night, and lights them up when it gets dark. They’ve been ripped down five times so far.

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“Let them come, let them rip those flags down because I have a warehouse on alert, and I’ll put up a flag every time they tear one down,” he said.

Hornick is ready to face a judge. If he loses the flag fight in court. Hornick is prepared to serve the sentence.

NJ.com reports that Hornick was shocked to learn he was issued a ticket and accused of violating a borough ordinance on the public display of political signs. After his flags were vandalized or ripped down by people repeatedly, he thought the police would be focused instead on the vandals. He was wrong:

“Here I am looking for the cops to capture these people and instead, here they come and give me a ticket for my freedom of expression,” Hornick said on Thursday.

A former Long Branch firefighter, Hornick contends the ordinance doesn’t apply to him because he’s not displaying a lawn sign – he’s flying a flag, just like any sports fan would fly a flag expressing their enthusiasm for their favorite team.

But West Long Branch doesn’t see it that way. The borough attorney told police a flag is indeed considered a lawn sign under the ordinance and under previous court rulings, according to the police report Hornick provided to NJ Advance Media.

The report said borough resident Brian Hegarty – a former Democratic councilman and a distant neighbor of Hornick’s – called police on March 25 to question why his complaints to the municipal code enforcement officer about the flags resulted on no violations for Hornick.

Hornick, a Republican in a GOP-controlled town, said a police official called him that day to tell him about the potential violation and suggested that Hornick could avoid a summons by taking down his flags.

After consulting with his attorney, Hornick called police headquarters later that day and said the flags would remain in place.

“I’m not taking the flag down, and if I do 90 days in jail, I’ll do 90 days in jail,” Hornick told reporters. He vows he will continue to exercise his freedom of speech rights.