Neighbors Upset After Man Flies Nazi Flag
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- First a confederate flag, and now there is a red flag with a black swastika hanging from a home in West Mifflin, and one family in particular feels targeted by the gesture.
That family, living on Bluff Street, said they feel it is being directed at them because the Nazi flag is strategically hung to face their home. To make matters worse, they feel that same neighbor has set up surveillance cameras to spy on them.
"I want him to know how I feel. That is wrong," said neighbor Michele McClain.
McClain lives across the street. She said her neighbor's targeting the people that live next door.
"I came home. I seen it. I actually laughed," said Corey Hawkins.
Hawkins is dating the woman who lives there, and spends a lot of time at the home. He is not sure if he's being targeted because of his race or some other circumstance.
"It got nice out. I started coming over to cut her grass. He seen my car and pulled the flag out. Thought I was living here or something," Hawkins said.
The man who put up the swastika didn't want to go on camera or be identified. However, he did talk to KDKA's Amy Wadas through his fence. He said he hung the flag on one side of his porch on Tuesday so it could be in the direct sunlight to get the wrinkles out and that he was going to move it to the front of his porch later, which he did after KDKA left.
McClain said she is still not sure of his intentions.
"When we first moved in here, he spoke to us all. Hi, how're doing? Then, he saw my son's fiancé and all conversations stopped," said McClain. "She's a black girl."
Hawkins said the neighbor also has cameras facing toward his girlfriend's house. However, the man told KDKA-TV he put them up after his fence was vandalized.
"With the camera, it was kind of creepy. I didn't know if he was a pedophile. I didn't know what was going on," said Hawkins.
West Mifflin Police said they did get a complaint about the flag from a neighbor, but no police report was filed. Officers said that neighbor has the right to hang the flag wherever he wants to hang it, and place the cameras where he wants to since it is on his property.
