JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida city inspector is under fire after she walked into a business, cited the store for flying military flags and allegedly insulted a veteran.
Melinda Power was seen on surveillance video arguing with a veteran and reportedly telling him he “did nothing for this country.”
According to WJXT, Power said the citation was issued to Jaguar Power Sports because the rooftop flags, which includes two United States flags, a Jacksonville Jaguars flag and flags representing each military branch, were in violation of city code.
The verbal altercation happened after the warning upset the customer.
“She says, ‘What did you do for this country?’ He says, ‘I took three bullets to the leg. I almost lost my life for this country. I’m retired. I’m a veteran.’ She gets in his face this close and says, ‘You did nothing for this country,'” employee Katie Klasse said.
An angry and confused employee named Shaun shared a video after the ordeal happened on Facebook. He asked viewers to share the video, calling the move disrespectful to military members.
The now-viral video has more than 4.5 million views, 195,000 shares, and 32,000 reactions.
Jacksonville’s mayor, Lenny Curry, later tweeted about the situation, saying that he’s told city staff to treat military flags the same as the US Flag.
1. I Have directed city staff that military flags should be treated same as US flag. Let them fly. I Have reached out to the business owner & will review employee procedures. COJ employees r expected to be respectful of our customers – you, the people of Jacksonville.
— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) April 16, 2018
2. We support our military and veterans, and we appreciate businesses who honor their service.
— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) April 16, 2018
Curry’s chief of staff, Brian Hughes, said the city is investigating the incident and will review the video.
The citations were strictly a warning and the business was not fined.
