'I broke down': Parents of fallen Ohio police chief told to remove Thin Blue Line flag
Tom DiSario said he was brought to tears when he and his wife received a letter instructing them to take down a flag representing their son's sacrifice earlier this week.
DiSario's son, Kirkersville Police Chief Steven "Eric" DiSario, was among those killed five years ago in May at Pine Kirk Care Center. He had served the village for three weeks as its police chief prior to his death and left behind a wife, six children and one on the way.
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In a letter dated May 13, Omni Community Association Managers told Thomas and Belinda DiSario a flag being flown on their property was in violation of the deed restrictions in their Etna area neighborhood, Cumberland Crossing.
"The political sign in the form of a flag must be removed from your property. The flag on your pole is not a United States Flag," the letter stated. "It is a political statement. Please remove the flag from your property."
Father of slain Kirkersville police chief: 'I broke down and cried'
According to DiSario, he and his wife received a thin blue line flag from the police association in 2017. Since then, the flag has only come down to replace it when it's worn out and earlier this year, when he had to replace the flag pole on his property.
Although five years have passed since Eric DiSario's death, his father said it's gotten easier, but the pain will never go away.
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"To be honest, when I saw the letter that people are fighting me over something very valuable to me and personal, I broke down and cried," he said, noting this week also marks National Police Week. "That's how much it meant to me."
Thin Blue Line flag represents Steven DiSario's sacrifice, father says
Remembering his son, DiSario said he was a stranger to no one and was beloved by everyone from his church congregation to his neighbors, family and friends.
"He was a great man that loved his family, full of life and he loved his kids," DiSario said. "He was not able to see his last one born. She's now 5-years-old."
DiSario said to him, the thin blue line flag flown outside his home represents the sacrifices of his son and officers across the nation who are killed in the line of duty.
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DiSario said unless the issue is dropped by the homeowners' association, he intends to take the case to court in Licking County.
According to a brief provided to the Ohio General Assembly in March, housing entities may prohibit residents from displaying signs and flags, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions include the display of a U.S. flag, a POW/MIA flag, a state flag or a service flag approved by the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
History of Thin Blue Line
The phrase “the thin blue line” can be traced all the way back to an 1854 British battle formation, with redcoats forming a “thin red line” during a battle of the Crimean War, the Marshall Project reported last year.
But the modern iteration of the thin blue line flag, which has been hoisted alongside the Confederate flag in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Washington D.C., surfaced in 2014 when college student Andrew Jacobs started Thin Blue Line USA after watching on TV as people protested the police killings of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown. The company is now one of the largest online retailers dedicated solely to selling pro-police merchandise.
More: The thin blue line problem
The flag has been banned within Maryland district courts, in school districts and by at least one police department — the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose chief, Kristen Roman, informed officers of the ban in an internal email sent on Jan. 15. 2021.
Omni Community Association Managers could not be reached for comment as of Thursday afternoon.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Slain Ohio police chief's family told to remove Thin Blue Line flag
