A veteran that was arrested for displaying two 4 x 6 inch American flags outside a Veterans Affairs (VA) fence on Memorial Day in 2016 will be represented by Judicial Watch, the organization announced on Wednesday. Judicial Watch is a conservative watchdog group that specializes in filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to expose misconduct by government officials and agencies.
Judicial watch will represent Veteran Robert L. Rosebrock in the case of United States of America v. Robert L. Rosebrock, (CC11, 4920201; 4920202; 6593951). Rosebrock is being prosecuted for hanging two small American flags on a section of the “Great Lawn Gate” entrance to the Los Angeles National Veterans Park, a public park on the corner of Wilshire and San Vincente Boulevards in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. He is also being criminally prosecuted for taking photographs on Memorial Day and again in June of 2016 without permission.
Judicial Watch attorney Sterling E. Norris, a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, and Los Angeles-based defense attorney Robert Patrick Sticht will represent Rosebrock. Rosebrock’s attorney’s claim VA officials previously told their client that federal regulation allowed hanging the American Flag and POW/MIA flags on the “Great Lawn Gate” fence. They also argue that Rosebrock and several other veterans hung as many as 30 full-size America Flags at the fence at the same time without incident.
The Memorial Day charge stems from photographs Rosebrock took of a Veterans Affairs police officer while the officer detained and cited him for displaying the two small flags outside the fence. The second charge is being levied at Rosebrock for taking photos of VA police who were detaining and handcuffing conservative activist Ted Hayes after Hayes displayed an American Flag above the same VA fence.
The case will be heard by U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Rosebrock faces up to six months imprisonment if found guilty on any of the three charges.
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