Texas Man Forced to Remove Flag Muslims Found Threatening-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A Texas man was forced to remove an American flag draped over a patio railing outside his apartment complex because Muslim neighbors complained that they found it threatening.
The Truth:
A Texas man was told to take down an American flag hung outside his apartment, but the complex manager said complaints from Muslim neighbors had nothing to do with it.
The story dates back to 2014, but it was re-reported as “breaking” news in early 2016 by the Supreme Patriot, a website known for publishing anti-Islamic and anti-Democratic news stories:
In an interview with KHOU, Duy Tran told reporters that he has friends who have died for this country, and so he decided to hang the flag from his balcony, after moving into his new apartment in Webster, Texas.
Apparently there are guidelines and hanging Old Glory doesn’t meet community standards, however what really set Tran off is what the apartment complex manager told him;
“What really stunned me is that she said it’s a threat towards the Muslim community,” Tran told reporters. “I’m not a threat toward nobody.”
Within a week, the Supreme Patriot story had been shared more than 16,000 times. Those who shared it were likely unaware that the story was from 2014, and that the manager of the apartment complex has since come forward to dispute the claim.
KHOU reported on June 19, 2014, that Duy Tran had told the station he was told to take down the American flag because Muslims found it offensive. But the apartment complex manager came forward to refute those claims in a story published on June 24, 2014:
On Tuesday the complex s corporate CEO Jenifer Paneral responded.
There was never a statement that the flag was a threat to any religious community, or to anyone at any point in time, she said.
When we first tried talking to a property manager last week, she gave KHOU 11 News a written statement, refused to answer any questions and had police escort us off the property.
Paneral is now calling that handling unfortunate. She said this comes down to, a clear violation of our policy.
That s because she said the flag was too big to hang off the balcony railing, where it could fall on someone below. Paneral said the property manager explained that to Tran.
She did refer to other communities, other religious groups in that explanation, but it was just an example of the types of things that were hanging over the balcony, said Paneral. But at no time was there ever a statement that it was a threat to any community.
Tran is standing by his version, that he was told the flag was a threat to the Muslim community and it had to come down from his balcony.
In the end, Tran compromised. Because the community didn’t allow residents to hang flags from patio railings, Tran moved the flag to an outside porch wall, which didn’t break the community’s rules. That makes the idea that he was told to remove it because residents found it threatening pretty shaky. If a resident found a flag on a railing threatening, they would find a flag on an outside wall threatening, too.
Media reports also said a large American flag was on public display at the entrance of the apartment community, which means flags weren’t banned there.