In Croton-on-Hudson, a New York City suburb, resident Leonard Amicola has been ticketed and ordered to remove his “Trump Is My President” flag for violating the village’s so-called content-neutral code.
News12 reported that Amicola, a disabled Vietnam veteran who has lived in the village for 67 years, has flown pro-Trump flags since 2021 and insists his right to do so is protected by the Constitution.
“I did at one time have it on the pole, and one night somebody came and took it and it was gone,” Amicola told News12, who then hung the flag between two trees to lessen the chance of its theft again.
Amicola said his personal beliefs as an immigrant derive from having a father who “fled a fascist dictatorship [Benito Mussolini] to come to America.”
“My choices and my politics are my own. I don’t always agree with other people’s opinions in Croton but all of us have the right to free speech,” Amicola wrote in an opinion column for the The Croton Chronicle. “People ask me why I don’t surrender and take down my flag. It is because of the values I learned growing up here in Croton. It is because I am my father’s son.”
Amicola said he’s received threats and even had rocks thrown at his flag, though many in the community have also shown support. Amicola’s attorney, Roseann Schuyler, said the village first issued a violation notice six weeks ago, followed by a court summons for violating the code. Both she and Amicola said he will plead not guilty, and she suggested the case may end up in federal court.
“I think the village has characterized Mr. Amicola’s flag as a banner and they are doing that so they can shoehorn their enforcement action into a provision of the village’s zoning code that applies to commercial speech and outdoor advertising — which doesn’t apply in this case,” Schuyler told Newsmax on Monday. “Mr. Amicola is not advertising anything. He’s making a political statement on his own private property.”
Village Manager Bryan T. Healy issued a statement to Newsmax on the matter on behalf of Croton-on-Hudson Democrat Mayor Brian Pugh, writing in an email: “The [village] code prohibits banners as signs. Flags are permitted to be flown from flagpoles, and Mr. Amicola has been told that he could do so and not be in violation of the code. As of now, he has chosen not to do so.”
In the 2020 election, about 71% of Croton-on-Hudson voters backed Joe Biden. The village has a stronger Democratic base than nearby cities and trends more Democratic than the nation overall.
UNREAL. Croton-on-Hudson, NY, is SUING long-time resident Leonard Amicola for displaying a Trump flag on his own property, citing “Village Code violations.”
This is a blatant attack on Free Speech. pic.twitter.com/PHIh5SV0eq
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 4, 2025
