Jacksonville man says HOA told him to remove Black Lives Matter flag

Article Courtesy of News 4 Jax

By Jenese Harris

Published November 4, 2020

JACKSONVILLE – An Arlington man says he’s receiving unfair treatment from his homeowner’s association.

Antoine Mickel has lived in the Arlington community for 21 years. He said everyone living in his neighborhood are free to express themselves, flying American flags, seasonal flags and political flags.

But he says the moment that he put up his Black Lives Matter flag that he received a letter in the mail from the HOA, which stated he had a flag “in violation of the sign and nuisance clause.”

“I thought it was crazy if they had said that it was out of regulation because it was too big or this that or the other, but when they say it was offensive and a nuisance to the residents, that offended me,” Mickel said.

News4Jax contacted the president of the homeowner’s association by phone. She said Monday that she would request a statement from management for the community and that she was aware of the flag.

“There are signs around the neighborhood that I don’t necessarily like, but I don’t harass and worry about them,” Mickel said. “They said I should take my flag down within the 24 hours, and I told them I was not going to take my flag down within 24 hours.”

Mickel said that he respects everyone’s freedom to fly whatever flag they want and that he just wants to be treated the same way.