Support and opposition mount in Danvers over removal of ‘thin blue line’ flags

Daniel Bennett looked out at a Danvers gymnasium filled with mask-clad constituents and knew what he believed: All of them support the local police and fire departments, he said.

Many of them who took to the microphone Wednesday night agreed with the Board of Selectmen chairman. They spoke about family who made sacrifices to serve — how first responders rallied around each other not just during hardships, but every day on the job.

But consensus among them was absent on whether their appreciation and that camaraderie should take the form of a “thin blue line” American flag on the back of a firetruck, and whether Town Manager Steve Bartha made the right call in removing the displays from the department’s fleet last week.

Bartha, in an Aug. 25 statement, ordered the flags taken down, citing how the symbol has become political speech with the “power to make marginalized members of our community feel unwelcome.”

Residents who backed their removal, including Bennett, say the symbol has been co-opted by white supremacists and hate groups in recent years.

That’s not the message first responders are seeking to send, Bennett said. But officials must be cognizant that the flag has been hijacked and has different meanings for different people, he said.

To some, “the flag may recognize the white radicals in Charlottesville and elsewhere who co-opted this flag in an attempt to make it look like police were on their side,” Bennett said. “Acts like this are despicable. They have happened and they continue to happen. We have to accept that as reality.”

Opponents of the move noted how the “thin blue line” has long represented law enforcement in the United States and the original intention has always been centered on expressing support for a difficult job.

Some wondered aloud: By removing the flags, what power would the town give to hate organizations?

“This flag means so much to us and it absolutely kills me that somebody else can take that away from us,” said Brian Barry, president of the Danvers Firefighters Association Local 2038. “Hate groups, whatever label you want to put on these people and these groups that have taken advantage of this symbol that means so much to us and turned it into something it’s not, was never meant to be. It made me angry.”

Still, he asked, what will the town do now?

For selectmen, that next step was standing behind Bartha’s decision. In a 4-1 vote, the board backed up the move while affirming the town manager’s jurisdiction to take such actions, which some residents had called into question.

Like Bennett, Selectman Gardner Trask, III called the corruption of the flag’s original meaning “horribly unfair” for first responders, although it must be acknowledged, he said.

“They cannot help that evil people are using their symbol of pride and turning it into a symbol of hate,” he said. “But it cannot be ignored that it is now happening. Plain and simple whether or not you want to admit it out loud, the flag now has a political connotation it did not have previously.”

Town officials said since the flags came down last week, they have been bombarded with emails, including threats and “personal attacks” on Bartha and his family, according to Bennett.

Selectman Bill Clark said he was “absolutely appalled” by the language.

“I can’t believe that this has become such a major issue in this community with all that is going on in America today,” he said, before shaking his head. “It’s so small yet it’s become so polarizing that it’s very, very frustrating.”

Yet Danvers is hardly alone. As the country continues to openly grapple with police brutality against Black Americans, racial justice, and the systemic racism that has fueled racial disparities for decades, other communities across Massachusetts are confronting similar dialogues.

In Hingham, controversy first flared in July when officials, after receiving a citizen complaint, decided to take down “thin blue line” flags from fire trucks that were installed to recognize the anniversary of the line-of-duty death of Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna, who was killed in July 2018. Somerville followed suit in August.

Firefighters across the commonwealth have since vowed to fly the flags from their fire trucks, as the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts is leading a campaign for one of the Hingham flags to tour departments around the state.

Barry, in a statement last week, said he was told the Danvers flags came down after the town received a complaint.

At the “community conversation” held Wednesday, Scott Frost, president of the local police union, said Bartha’s decision without public discussion “was demoralizing for all of us.”

Barry, who has also voiced opposition, said he did not know “the level of hate that was out there or the fear instilled by this American flag” but has since learned more about it.

He said the “horrible things” that have been said about town officials in the past week could not be taken back. Barry urged selectmen to “make the right decision.”

“Be inclusive to everybody. Understand where we are coming from and I will do my best to understand where everybody else is coming from,” Barry said. “But moving forward, we have an opportunity here to make Danvers stronger as a community. Let’s try to do that.”

David McKenna, a former selectman, said he believes the flag stands for supporting law enforcement.

“Unfortunately it has been hijacked by hate groups,” he said. “But what hasn’t? You look at those parades where that flag is flying in those convoys, so is the American flag. Has that been hijacked too? Do we have to ban that now?”

But Cory Ryan had a different question: What does the flag do to make police officers safer?

“In my opinion, it is a symbol — intangible — and police in any community are safest when all of the citizens they serve have faith and trust in them,” said Ryan, whose husband is a Boston firefighter and has relatives who serve in the Boston Police Department. “Symbols that promote the idea that blue lives matter … promote mistrust between police and minority citizens that they serve, promote mistrust between police and anyone who would criticize the practices of policing in this country.”

She added, “The flags promote a pro-police message but do nothing to bridge the divide … between law enforcement and protesters.”

The discord, however, would likely be on display Thursday evening outside Danvers Town Hall where a “Danvers Backs the Blue” demonstration and a Black Lives Matter rally were both reportedly scheduled.

Watch the full meeting:

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