Upside-down flag stolen from Woodstock yard after prompting responses from strangers, owner says

When Donald Huebner decided with his wife to turn their American flag upside down outside their Woodstock home last week, he said it was to “show the country was in distress.”

As he worked in the yard that day, he said four people stopped by his house – two rang his bell and two pulled into his driveway – to let him know the flag was upside down, just in case he did it by mistake. To each stranger, he explained it was not an accident but a silent protest.

One of those people said he was going to go home and do the same with his flag, Huebner said. But not all were supportive.

Later that day, Huebner discovered another person on his property taking down his flag. When Huebner, 69, told him to stop, the man replied that it was against the law to fly the flag upside down – it is not – and that he was going to call the police. After a brief argument, the man left. Huebner continued mowing his lawn in the back of his house. About 25 minutes later he came back to the front yard, and much to his chagrin, the flag and the rope it hung on were gone and the flagpole damaged, he said.

Huebner, who described himself as the son of a U.S. Navy veteran and son-in-law of veteran who earned a Purple Heart, said he’s lived in his home for 25 years and was “genuinely furious and disappointed that somebody would do that.”

“I did not know if it was the same person,” he said. “I have no way of knowing. We did not have cameras on the flagpole. Now we have them.”

He called the police and the Woodstock Fire Department, which helped put up a new flag; he had an extra.

However, the flag thief has not swayed him in his mission. He plans to fly his flag upside down “indefinitely, until there is some resolution.” It is not illegal to do, though some may disagree with him, and others, doing the same thing across the country, saying it is disrespectful.

After former President Donald Trump’s historic guilty verdict last week, a steady flow of images showing upside-down American flags has appeared on social media as his supporters and right-wing commentators protest his felony conviction, according to the AP.

The upside-down American flag gained wide attention recently after revelations that it was flown outside the Alexandria, Virginia, home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. A flipped flag was carried by the rioters while they echoed Trump’s claims of election fraud, according the AP.

Displaying a flag upside down “originated in the British Isles in the 17th century, likely during the Anglo-Dutch wars,” according to the North American Vexillological Association, which touts itself as the “world’s largest organization of flag enthusiasts and scholars.” Today, displaying the American flag upside down “has largely become a political signal, and though distasteful to some, it is protected First Amendment speech,” the association wrote.

Some on social media argued against the practice, saying the country is not under distress, and that would have been more apt during, for example, the 9/11 attacks.

But Huebner said the country is under distress, citing the current political climate, “the way the nation is moving” and the current administration “trying to silence people that are not of their mindset.” He also noted Trump’s conviction, though that is not the only reason, he said.

Rich Rostron, 67, of Woodstock, shares Huebner’s stance, and though he has yet to turn his American flag upside down, he said he has “no anger with someone who does.”

“I think they have a pretty good argument that there is legitimate cause to do so,” Rostron said. “I think a lot of people would say this country is in distress today.”

Like Huebner, Rostron cited the current administration and referred to an “abuse of the legal system and a border that is left wide open” among examples of why he thinks the country is under distress.

Rostron and Huebner each said while 9/11 was an act of distress, that was different because that was foreign entities attacking.

“Our distress today is internal,” Rostron said. “We have a distortion of the concept of liberty today. I have to change how I live and what I say for others, but others are free to live the lives they want to. But don’t tell me I have to agree … that is tyranny.”

Rocio Cleveland, 40, of Island Lake, agrees with Huebner and flies an American flag upside down in her yard.

“Now more than ever, we really need to pray for our nation,” she said. “America the beautiful is under distress.”

Cleveland said she comes from a family of Mexican immigrants “who suffered repercussions” when cartels gained control there. She also noted the Trump conviction and the current justice system. She said if that can happen to Trump, it can happen to anyone.

“America is the land of the free because of the brave, veterans sacrificed for us and are still suffering,” Cleveland said. ”Oh yes, I’m going to stand by our vets and I’m going to put the flag upside down because they fought for us. If America falls, the world falls, and that’s a fact.”

As for Huebner’s flag being stolen, seemingly because someone disagreed with his views, he stands firm that he has a right to fly the flag however he wants on his property. He pointed to a nearby business, the Northwest Treatment Counseling Associates, where rainbow pride flags are displayed. Though he does not share the same beliefs, he said, they have the freedom to fly their pride flags.

Carol Fetzner, counselor and owner of the center for the last 21 years, agreed that they each have the right and freedom to fly whatever flag they believe in. It is what this country is based on, she said. Though their beliefs may be vastly different, she called Huebner “a good neighbor. … He takes good care of his property and we do too. It is very peaceful.”

She knows she would be there if he needed anything, and he would be there for her. She said during a recent tornado warning, he walked over to her building and offered his basement for shelter to her and a group of transgender teens she was meeting with.

She also noted he displays pro-Trump signs and even though his displays “embody totally different views,” she said he has the right to do so. She and Huebner being neighbors “is representative of two people who are existing side by side peacefully. ... We are neighbors. ... We are peaceful with each other; and that is what is going to bring us out of this time of distress.”

Fetzner said her son is a pilot in the Illinois National Guard currently working protecting the nation’s borders.

“The country is in distress; I agree with that,” she said. “This is a very chaotic time for our country, sadly. I hope we can work together to get to a better place as a nation.”

She said people should seek out “things that unify us rather than things that divide us. Yes, I have pride flags – this is pride month – [and] I have veterans flags. I appreciate that we can live peacefully next door to each other. [Huebner] is patriotic. He believes in America and we have a lot of privileges here.”

Though times are chaotic, “I’m proud to be an American, always, and proud to [have] a son in the National Guard protecting our borders,” Fetzner said. “We have a lot to be grateful for here in the U.S.”