NJ mayor blocks flag honoring dead police officers, lawsuit says

JERSEY CITY — The police union for the seat of Hudson County and families of fallen local police officers have accused Mayor Steven Fulop's office of blocking them from flying a flag to honor the dead.

The accusations that center on the Thin Blue Line flag are outlined in a new lawsuit against Jersey City filed last week by attorneys Charles Sciarra and Jeffrey Catrambone. Both lawyers have represented numerous police officers in New Jersey.

According to the lawsuit, the Jersey City Police Superior Officers Association applied to raise the flag at City Hall on May 14 during National Police Week. The ceremony was approved and the city created a flyer promoting the event.

However, the lawsuit said the Democrat mayor's office got involved and stopped them from using the Thin Blue Line flag.

Only the American flag was allowed at the ceremony and the city refused to raise the Thin Blue Line flag.

Other flag raisings have been banned by Fulop within the past year. The mayor said the city canceled raising the Palestinian flag after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel; months later an Israeli flag-raising event at city hall in May was also stopped, the Jersey City Times reported.

Preventing the Thin Blue Line flag from going up violated the police union's right to free speech, according to the lawsuit. It said that Fulop's decision to run for governor in the 2025 primary may have played a role in changing the ceremony.

"Mayor Fulop has unabashedly decided to run on an anti-law enforcement platform, which is his right and may benefit him in Democratic party politics," the lawsuit said.

Mayor Fulop's office denies anti-police stance

However, the mayor's office strongly denied that Fulop is anti-police.

Spokeswoman Kim Wallace-Scalcione said the Fulop administration had invested more time and resources and hired more police officers than any previous administration. The city says it has hired more than 800 police officers and made over 400 promotions since Fulop took office in 2013.

"These assertions clearly have zero merit as Mayor Fulop has consistently demonstrated his unwavering support for law enforcement throughout his tenure, and as a result, Jersey City achieved its lowest homicide rate ever last year, coupled by consistent decreases in nearly every crime category year after year," said Wallace Scalcione.

Controversy behind Thin Blue Line flags

While some see the Thin Blue Line flag as support for law enforcement, the flag has been banned by some communities and police chiefs.

NBC News reported the flag was banned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's police chief in 2021 because it had been "co-opted" by "hateful ideologies."

The Los Angeles police chief received backlash after banning the flag in 2023 because it had been "hijacked" by extremist groups, the Los Angeles Times reported.

However, the families of Jersey City police officers killed in the line of duty said the flag should have been flown at the May ceremony.

"I respect and honor the traditional American flag, but the Thin Blue Line flag is a special honor for the brave members of law enforcement across the country, including fallen officers like my husband who gave his life serving and protecting the public as a police officer," said Laura Seals, the widow of Det. Joseph Seals.

Det. Seals was shot to death on Dec. 10, 2019 in Jersey City by two attackers who went on to kill three civilians at a kosher deli. The gunmen were killed in a shootout with police.

Catherine McBride, the mother of Det. Melvin Vincent Santiago, said she was extremely hurt and disappointed to find out the Thin Blue Line flag wouldn't be flown at the ceremony. Santiago was killed while responding to an early morning armed robbery in 2014.

McBride said the flag is a tribute to "officers, like my son, who made the ultimate sacrifice."