A town in northwestern Connecticut removed yellow ribbons, which were tied around trees and that signified support for U.S. service members, amid a debate on free speech.
Historic Litchfield Town Green has adorned the trees with the yellow signs of support since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. The families of service members started the trend, according to the Associated Press.
There were five yellow ribbons on the town common, each one representing a military branch, but they were taken down last Thursday by a local official who was complying with a city ordinance that the board of burgesses voted to restart enforcement of last month.
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Acting Warden Gayle Carr removed the ribbons on Thursday morning, putting them in her backpack as she walked her dog.
The ordinance bans the hanging of placards or other postings on the green, and it dates back hundreds of years. Proponents of the ordinance’s enforcement argue that allowing the ribbons paves the way for other displays of free speech without limit.
“When it comes to a public space like that, if you allow some speech, you have to allow all speech,” Carr said in an interview with the outlet. “But under the (borough) code, we are allowed to say no speech, and that doesn’t discriminate against anybody.”
Seventeen attendees spoke against the removal of the ribbons at the meeting in which the board of burgesses voted to restart enforcement, while none spoke in support of the plan.
Val Caron and his wife, locals whose son is in the Air Force, have been tending to the ribbons for more than a decade, and they are said to be considering legal action.
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“What they did is they slapped everybody in the military right in the face,” Caron said. “There’s a lot of people that are very upset. … This is not over.”
This current debate is one that’s been had before in the town. In 2009, Litchfield banned ribbons, citing the possibility of an increase in free speech displays. After garnering swift opposition, the officials agreed a year later to allow five ribbons to signify each branch.
