A US Air Force officer has been banned from flying a flag saying ‘Jesus Is My King’ outside his home at a Montana military base.
Air Force Technical Sergeant Robert Durrant is now fighting for his right to express his Christian faith by flying the flag in his front yard, after he was forced to take it down.
First Liberty Institute, a faith-based non-profit legal group, has sent a demand letter on behalf of Sergeant Durrant, to the housing management group which runs the Malmstrom air base.
The letter notes that when Sergeant Durant and his family moved onto the base in 2023, they noticed neighbours flying a wide variety of flags outside their homes.
Some represented sports teams, home states, home nations and even Pride groups.
The sergeant had no problems when he raised a hybrid US-Israel flag outside his home.
But when he replaced it last year with another flag saying: “Jesus is my King, Trump is my President”, an employee from the housing management group Balfour Beatty pounced.
He was given 48-hours to remove the flag.
No problem with President Trump. Just Jesus, who, according to the managers ,”violated all sorts of policies.”
“As a Christian, TSgt Durrant feels compelled by his religious beliefs to display this flag in recognition of a duty to publicly acknowledge Christ’s divine lordship, and as an expression of loyalty to the commander in chief,” the demand letter explained.
“He did not want to remove it and asked for the policy or policies prohibiting the flag, in writing.”
“Balfour’s employee also furnished this demand to TSgt Durrant’s military chain of command.”
“His military leadership subsequently met with him and ordered him to comply with (the) demand or risk military discipline.”
“On September 15, TSgt Durrant removed his ‘Jesus is my King’ flag so as to not risk eviction or military discipline.”
Sergeant Durrant later emailed Balfour Beatty to request permission to fly his flag, explaining the religious basis for his request.
A civilian employee in the military housing office told him he needed to make that request through his military chain of command, as he allegedly violated a “Department of Defence (DoD) policy … not a Housing or Malmstrom AFB policy.”
According to First Liberty Institute, that information contradicted what Sergeant Durrant was originally told.
Additionally, at the time he was informed of the violation, other base residents displayed flags representing sports teams, seasonal decorations, and even pride flags without such objection.
The officer is now seeking permission to fly his flag and says the order to remove it was a violation of his First Amendment, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and Fair Housing Act rights.
“Permitting the display of LGBT and other flags for years while subsequently ordering the swift removal of a religious flag is blatant anti-Christian bias targeting religious exercise,” said Chris Motz, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute.
“The First Amendment protects TSgt Durrant’s right to freely express his faith without fear of reprimand or repercussion, including on an Air Force base.”
First Liberty is asking the housing group to “rescind” their letter demanding Durrant remove his religious flag and “confirm” that he was not in violation of his lease for flying a religious flag.
First Liberty noted that Balfour Beatty has until January 19th to respond to the letter, or potentially face legal action.
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