A South Jersey man's decision to fly the Nazi flag in his backyard has some crying foul.
Mark Forsman hoisted the swastika-laden red flag above his Carney's Point, N.J. property in commemoration of Adolf Hitler's birthday on April 20. But the self-described flag collector says it was not in celebration, its there just because it's part of the collection.
"It's just, it's his birthday and the flag's up, that's all," he said. "It's not a big deal to me."
But the flag is a big deal to one anonymous tipster who called NBC Philadelphia. They say they're offended and called the flag inappropriate. They also claim police won't ask the man to remove the flag because it would violate his 1st Amendment rights.
"I don't hear them calling you guys next month when I fly the Mexican flag for Cinco de Mayo," Forsman said.
Forsman, a trash collector, says he's a nice guy who just likes flags. He showed off a few flags from his collection including Israeli, German and POW flags. The man also says he also owns a Ku Klux Klan banner.
"Some people collect stamps, I collect flags," he said. "I collect flags and I fly them."
When asked if he hated Jewish people, the man replied "No, not at all." Forsman says he has Jewish friends who don't like the flag, but understand it's not meant to offend.
"They rag on me, but, you know, hey, they know how I am," he said. "It's not intended to hurt anybody or piss anybody off."
Forsman says his neighbors have never complained to him about the flag, but admits the Nazi flag was stolen twice before.
Neighbors we spoke to Monday just laughed off the notion of Forsman being a racist.
"He flies all flags," said Dolores Jones. "If that was the only flag he flew, then it would be a problem."
NBC Philadelphia spoke to the mayor of Carney's Point Monday and he said while he may not agree with the flag, officials cannot tell Forsman to remove it because he's not threatening residents.
Forsman echoes that notion reiterating that he's not trying to hurt anyone. He went on to say he's the proud dad of a Marine who just got back from serving two tours of duty in Iraq, defending our nation's freedoms.
"I don't put anything up to offend anybody," he said.
