First Amendment dispute at firehouse

CHESTER, Pa., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Chester, Pa., are involved in a dispute over decals, upside down flag displays and freedom of expression, union officials said.

A cartoon some found offensive, posted in the locker room at Fire Station No. 2, touched off a series of silent statements and dissension, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Sunday. A black firefighter, Robert Butler, replaced the cartoon with a sign reading "Black man has no free speech" and was subsequently suspended without pay for a day.

Fire Commissioner James Johnson banned all locker room decorations Aug. 29 following an argument about the cartoon but the directive was not enforced until last week, the newspaper said. Firefighter James Krapf was suspended without pay last week for refusing to remove a U.S. flag decal from his locker.

Butler wore a knit cap Saturday displaying the U.S. flag turned upside down -- which he said was not a sign of protest but was meant to indicate the "common meaning of distress."

Stacy Landrum, president of the Chester firefighters union, told the newspaper firefighters who complained to the commissioner were told no departmental rule prevented Butler from wearing the upside-down flag.