A veteran of the Afghanistan War has apparently become the latest victim of anti-Trump sentiment spilling into actions against his supporters. Gus Klein of Burlington, Vermont discovered someone had taken down his “Trump 2020: Keep America Great” flag from the flagpole on his front lawn while he and his wife were asleep.
The vandals then burned the flag and left its crumpled remains on his porch.
Klein told WCAX that after waking up on Sunday morning, he noticed the flagpole was lying on the ground and the flag was not attached.
“I looked on the front porch and I see some cloth on the front porch,” Klein said. “It looked like it was burned.”
The Army veteran, who served two tours in Afghanistan, said he could not tell if the flag was thrown on his porch while it was still on fire.
If it was, he said it would be all the more troubling.
“Knowing that there’s people out here who do this, there is fear in my mind and it’s not right,” the veteran told the TV station. “I should be able to come and go as I want and we should be able to sleep at night in our own property, so there is fear.”
As Reported By NECN:
Klein said even in a city often known for liberal politics, disagreements with lawn displays have always been respectful – until this incident.
“We all get along,” Klein said of her neighbors and friends who have differing political views. “You agree to disagree.”
Klein said the flag-burning is an indication that the political tone in America right now is not healthy. She noted that despite her support of Trump in 2016, she has also supported Democrats, does not consider the president to be perfect, and likes Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, on many issues.
“It does make me sad,” Klein said, looking at the destroyed flag. “I’m going to be 58 years old, and I’ve never seen something like this before. I’ve always lived in this area.”