#NJ Gov. calls off plan to remove American flags from Turnpike overpasses

“#NJ Gov. calls off plan to remove American flags from Turnpike overpasses”

September 8, 2020 | 3:46pm | Updated September 8, 2020 | 4:18pm

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New Jersey police replace an American flag on a highway overpass near Trenton.
Robbinsville PBA

He’s running it down the flagpole.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has backed down on a controversial new policy to remove dozens of American flags adorning the state’s highway overpasses amid growing outrage.

“I didn’t like what I heard,” the Democratic governor told reporters of the briefly instituted policy, which sparked an outcry from police and veterans groups as well as Republican lawmakers.

“We’ve suspended that for the time being until we can find a good way forward,” Murphy said.

He added, “We are the greatest nation on Earth even though we’re far from perfect and our flag represents that nation.”

People began hanging the flags above the New Jersey Turnpike in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, but the state agency that oversees the highways recently declared that they were in violation of state law and need to come down.

The Turnpike Authority’s rules prohibit “displays, posters, or placards, or display any advertising matter of any kind … on the roadway,” according to NJ.com.

Robbinsville Township police union president Michael Slininger said his group had just paid for 12 replacements along the Turnpike and I-195, and was blindsided by the policy change, Fox News reported.

“It is not known what happened to the brand new flags that we put up, but we truly hope they were respectfully disposed of, if not displayed elsewhere,” he posted on Facebook.

As word of the flag removals spread, two Republican state legislators threatened to take action if Murphy didn’t reverse course and introduce a bill that would exempt Old Glory from the statute.

“This is an instance where government oversight obviously is not needed,” Sen. Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso said in a joint statement.

“We clearly have a massive group of private citizens, veterans and police officers dedicated to ensuring that those flags are safely and securely hung, and respectfully maintained,” they said.