Update: Flag ban lifted at Vancouver HUD-funded apartment complex
VANCOUVER, Wash. – A controversial ban that prohibited residents at a government-subsidized apartment complex in Vancouver from flying the American flag has been lifted, according to tenants at the complex.
Tenants told KATU News that signs appeared in the complex Thursday saying the flag ban had been repealed. The signs appeared following two news stories that aired on KATU Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the state of Washington told KATU News that they encourage residents to fly the American flag at their homes at any time, but especially on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
He said there was no way the department would ban the display of American flags.
Operators of the complex, which is subsidized but not managed by the taxpayer-funded Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, had told residents in an August letter that they cannot fly or display flags - including American flags - on or in their homes.
Residents of the Brandt Terrace apartment complex said they were told they could be evicted for displaying “signage” on their homes, including flags.
The ban extended to displaying flags of any sort in windows or putting small flags in planters or other outside locations.
The ban did not sit well with residents, including a Vietnam veteran, many of whom wanted to fly American flags on the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.
Some residents continued to display flags on their property in defiance of the directive. Two were reportedly threatened with eviction if they did not take the flags down.
A manager at the complex, Dariya Tinkova, told KATU News she was “following the community rules” in enforcing the ban but would not say who was making the rules.
Managers at the complex had no immediate comment about the events Thursday afternoon.
KATU News tried to contact officials at HUD for clarification after a thorough search of their Web site failed to find any stipulation or rules against flying American flags on HUD properties.
The Al Angelo Company operates the complex in Vancouver and several others in the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Al Angelo officials were not available for comment early Thursday.
