Officials in a North Carolina city have filed a lawsuit to force a recreational vehicle store to take down a U.S. flag.
The city says the American flag being flown is offensively large and could distract drivers, and are threatening Camping World with fines of $50 a day until it’s removed.
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“I don’t care if it goes to $500 a day,” Marcus Lemonis, CEO and chairman of Camping World and Gander RV, told a local news station. “It’s not coming down.”
“My family has been car dealers, had been car dealers since the 1960s, and our key trademark was always flying our flag in our dealership in south Florida,” Lemonis said. “My family is largely immigrants of the country.”
News outlets report the flag is 40 feet by 80 feet and flies above the city of Statesville, north of Charlotte.
City officials say the store was granted a permit to fly a U.S. flag, but it’s nearly twice what city codes allow. The $50 a day fines have been retroactively applied back to Oct. 15, amounting to approximately $11,000.
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Camping World vowed to never give in, and said honoring our nation’s veterans is more important than money.
The company responded with the following Facebook post —
The City of Statesville, North Carolina has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to require Gander RV in Statesville,…
Posted by Camping World on Saturday, May 18, 2019
The Associated Press contributed to this article