Trump flag-burning met with peaceful protest

Sep. 2—WILKES-BARRE TWP. — It wasn't the flames in front of him that worried Gene Stilp, it was the group of Donald Trump supporters behind him.

The group of 10 men and women, some holding U.S. flags, moved across the parking lot outside the Wilkes-Barre Township Municipal Building to get closer to Stilp as he burned flags bearing the name of the former president, who is set to attend a political rally this weekend at a venue less than a mile away.

"Just no physical interaction, OK? You promise no physical interaction? You promise," Stilp asked.

There would be none, responded Theodore "TJ" Fitzgerald, who wore a "God Guns Trump" T-shirt.

"Not at all, we respect you. No not at all, swear to God," Fitzgerald spoke up. "No, no, no you just do your thing. You have every right to have your First Amendment."

Fitzgerald didn't bite on Stilp's request for a match to start the fire. "I have a joke for that, but it shouldn't be on the air," he said to reporters who covered the event.

The group kept its word and watched as Stilp and Steve Connolley fed the flames, confined to a trash can.

Stilp, 72, a Democrat activist from Dauphin County who grew up in Wilkes-Barre, paired Trump flags with Confederate, Nazi and the former Soviet Union flags in an effort to support his position the former president is racist, fascist and unAmerican, and that candidates in the upcoming election who sought his endorsement share the same views.

Trump is the featured speaker at an rally Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, along with Republican candidates Doug Mastriano, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jim Bognet.

Stilp asked and received permission from the township to hold his event outside the municipal building rather than at the arena, which is private property.

Luzerne County twice voted for Trump, Stilp noted. "Hopefully the people of Luzerne County won't vote for his candidates this time around. We don't know," he said.

"I think we made a statement about it and exercised a little bit of the First Amendment rights here. I'm glad the township saw it that way and gave us the permit and so a nice day to do a nice protest here against Trump, beautiful day," Stilp added.

Fitzgerald, a Democrat turned Republican from Wilkes-Barre, described his group as Make America Great Again conservatives.

"They give us a bad name and we're showing that we are very polite, classy people. We just want to let people know that we don't approve of what he's doing. He has the right to do it because of the First Amendment," Fitzgerald said.

Unlike Stilp, the group did not set anything on fire and for a good reason, Fitzgerald said: "We're going to take the high road."

Stilp thanked the group for turning out.

"Know what makes a protest? The other guy showed up. That makes the protest, the other guy showed up," Stilp said.

Township Mayor Karl Kuren also commented on the civility. "This is a peaceful protest for both sides," he said, while pointing out it was Trump territory. A "Welcome to Wilkes-Barre Township President Trump" sign was hung on the chain link fence behind Stilp.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.