Town protests mayor's ban on yellow ribbons

[thedrifter]

ON THE HOME FRONT
Town protests mayor's ban on yellow ribbons
Marchers hit streets to tack emblems on cars, buildings, trees

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Posted: April 5, 2003
7:10 p.m. Eastern



? 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

Folks in Fieldsboro, N.J., waved American flags, shouted patriotic slogans and sang songs while hitting the streets this afternoon to protest the Democrat council's decision to ban yellow ribbons on municipal property.

Led by Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, about 100 marchers tacked ribbons to trees and to the front door of the building that serves as town hall for the borough's 522 residents, according to the Associated Press.

The crowd cheered when Sliwa stuck a big yellow bow onto the hood ornament of the mayor's Lincoln.

The decision to ban the ribbons was supported by Mayor Edward ''Buddy'' Tyler, but caused an uproar with residents who want to honor U.S. troops fighting in Iraq. Many residents have called for the mayor's resignation.

One protester was spotted wearing a Saddam Hussein mask while carrying a sign that read: ''Mayor Tyler is my buddy.''

The mayor remained upstairs in his second-floor office during the rally.

''It's their right'' to protest the decision, Tyler said. ''We do not allow anything on government property without permission from the governing body.''

The controversy began when borough resident Diane Johnson placed one dinner-plate-sized ribbon on the town's official welcome sign and one on a nearby tree, as WorldNetDaily reported.

Said Johnson, "They were made of all-weather ribbon, and they looked really nice. They didn't obstruct the sign in any way, and a lot of people with family members in the war came into the store to tell me how seeing the ribbons gave them a lift."

Johnson then got a mayoral directive delivered by a township maintenance man: "Take down the ribbons, or I'll do it for you."

"I didn't want to get fined, so I took them down," Johnson told the paper. "There are mothers in town who have sons over there. You think [the mayor would] be a little bit sensitive to them."

Four of the council members voted unanimously to force Johnson to remove the ribbons after the mayor reportedly received one complaint.

Sempers,

Roger