More than 50 protesters showed up Tuesday at the house of a Hopkinsville man who made waves Memorial Day weekend after posting a photo online where he was shown stepping on an American flag.
Kentucky New Era editor Eli Pace was on the scene and says protesters were demanding that police arrest Zlatko Skuljan for desecration of the flag. Pace says police arrived early and informed Skuljan’s neighbors of the protesters' peaceful intentions.
“They went door to door, before any of the protesters got there, just warning people that ‘There’s about to be a free assembly in response to an act of free speech and it’s going to happen on your front yard. Just giving you a heads up’," Pace said.
Pace said the protest's leaders gathered beforehand at a nearby gas station to make sure everyone was on the same page.
“I mean, they were there to send a message,” Pace said. “And as much as I think a lot of people in the crowd would have liked to have done something or put their hands on Mr. Skuljan, not a single one of them did.”
The local and state police on the scene refused to arrest Skuljan, according to Pace, because of a United States Supreme Court ruling that protects flag desecration as symbolic free speech.
Pace said Skuljan told him that he is a disabled veteran, formerly stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia. This is not Skuljan's first run-in with the law. He was previously found guilty of obstructing an active shooter drill at Hopkinsville Community College.
Those involved in the protest also started a Facebook group Tuesday that is aimed at bringing some sort of punitive action against Skuljan.
