Retired Marine Forced to Remove USMC Stickers from Car – Truth! & Resolved!
Summary of eRumor:
A homeowners association ordered a veteran to remove U.S. Marine Corps decals from his car but allowed other neighbors to keep Obama decals on their cars.
The Truth:
It’s true that a veteran from Dallas squared off with a homeowners association over USMC decals on his car, but it appears the situation was resolved years ago.
Frank Larison, a veteran of the Vietnam War who served in the USMC for 14 years, was ordered by the board of the Woodlands II on the Creek HOA to remove USMC decals from his car in mid 2009. The group said car decals were prohibited under deed restrictions and threatened to fine Larison $50 a day if he failed to remove them.
The Dallas News reported that the HOA quickly backed down in response to a “barrage of critical media reports.” However, the story re-surfaced in November 2014 when a number of websites and blogs began re-reporting the story as current news.
It’s not clear why the story resurfaced.
TruthorFiction.com tracked down Larison to find out whether the issue had been resolved. Future updates will be posted here.
In 2009, the story triggered a nationwide backlash after CNN anchor Kyra Phillips and HOA member Art Bradford squared off in a heated on-air exchange about it on June 2, 2014.
Bradford disputed the claim that the HOA had singled out Larison’s USMC stickers. Bradford argued that Larison received the notice because he had more stickers on his car than others in the complex had on theirs.
Days later, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) took to the House floor to voice his support for Larison.
“Marine Larison will win this fight with the association because freedom of speech is still sacred in America whether the association likes it or not,” Poe said.
And it appears that Larison did win the fight. Future updates about why the story re-surfaced will be posted here.
Posted 11/22/14