NJ Woman Fights To Keep 'Lewd' Pro-Trump Flags In School Zone

UNION COUNTY, NJ — A Roselle Park woman will return to municipal court on July 8 because she won't remove political signs on her fence that include profanity along with slogans.

Resident Andrea Dick's fence contains seven signs, some in favor of former President Trump and others against President Joe Biden, but it's the ones containing profanity that — according to Democratic Mayor Joseph Signorello — violate a local ordinance.

Dick received a letter on June 2 from the borough threatening to fine her up to $500 a day for posting "signs containing Obscene, Pornographic or Lewd Messages."

Signorello confirmed that Dick entered a plea of "not guilty" in a virtual municipal court hearing Thursday, and must now return in July.

On Friday, Dick said she intends to keep the flags up and that she will fight the matter in court next month, along with her lawyer, Michael Campagna of Elizabeth.

"Oh, I'm keeping them," she said. "We're just going to wait and see what happens on July 8 and see what happens from there."

Dick said she did research before posting the signs in late May.

Reader Warning: the signs below contains foul language.

"I did all my homework before I did this," she said. "If people looked up Cohen v. California from 1971, they'd stop talking about this, and they would let it go." The case pertains to a young man who wore a jacket that said "[expletive] The Draft."

Signorello stressed on Thursday that it's the profanity, not the politics, that's at issue.

He said that for the last two years, Dick had signs on her property in favor of Trump, and it wasn't a problem.

Among others obscenities, one of Dick's signs says, "F-- Biden and F--- you for voting for him."

"I want to make this abundantly clear," the mayor said Thursday. "This woman's not being targeted. If you have profane language around a school zone, you're going to get a summons. She did get a warning. Code enforcement asked her to take the signs down. We will enforce the code. If it goes to a higher court, and she has a lawyer and wants to [challenge] our ordinance and say it violates the First Amendment, she can do that."

Signorello, who noted that Dick lives a little over a block from a local school, said he got several complaints from residents about the signs. He said Roselle officials are only enforcing the code as written.

But Dick says it shouldn't be an issue.

"Not one child lives there [on my block]," she said. "It's not on the route that children take to school. Plus, it's 20 feet back. You do not see [the signs] unless it's something you are looking for."

Dick said it's her belief that Biden "stole the election, because we were not allowed to go out and vote."

"We can go out and shop with masks on, but we couldn't go out and vote, which made no sense. Come on," she said.

Former Republican Assembly candidate Jennifer Makar on Sunday posted a photo of the signs, saying Dick "has been getting lots of threats, heat, and bad press for expressing her freedom of speech. ... She is a fighter and a hero in our community!!"

Reader Warning: the signs below contains foul language.

The response to the controversy has not all been supportive. Dick posted screenshots on June 2 of someone texting her telling her to "get over it" and making fun of her last name.

Signorello called the entire situation "a bummer."

"This doesn't need to be for what Roselle Park is known for," he said.

He added, "If you're going to be a good neighbor, one would hope you'd replace this with less profane signage. Who are you convincing with this?"

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