Camping World in North Carolina faces fines for hanging American flag due to its size
WASHINGTON (SBG) -- A Camping World location in Statesville, North Carolina is embroiled in a major controversy after being told by the city to remove their American flag due to its size.
Statesville, North Carolina is suing Camping World for allegedly violating regulations that state a flag which is 100 feet from the highway can't be more than 25 feet x 40 feet, WSOC reports. The news outlet also says that according to a lawsuit, the city gave Camping World an exemption to the rule. But the exemption wasn't the size Camping World desired.
"This is about more than just the flag. This is about our Veterans, Military, and the men and women that have sacrificed for this great country. They are the reason we fly the flag and they are the reason we will NOT take it down!" Camping World said in a Facebook post that has been shared over 5,000 times.
Camping World faces fines of up to $50 a day retroactive to October 15th, 2018.
“I don’t care if it goes to $500 a day. It's not coming down,” Marcus Lemonis, CEO and chairman of Camping World and Gander RV told WSOC. “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.”
A petition started by Camping World against the regulation already has over 35,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, the city of Statesville tells WSOC they only started fining Camping World because repeated requests to take down their flag did not happen after several times.
