Authorities are starting to crack down on people illegally hanging flags, signs, banners and other items—regardless of the content of their messaging—on highway overpasses in South Valley, according to a local California Highway Patrol captain.
The heightened enforcement plan is the CHP’s response to a March 21 incident in which a suspect hung a Nazi flag on the Burnett Avenue overpass in north Morgan Hill.
Prior to that incident, for several years a group of area residents have gathered every Friday on the same overpass expressing their support for President Donald Trump and the “MAGA” movement, often attaching or affixing American and political flags on the railing overlooking Highway 101.
The entire time, state laws have not been enforced that are supposed to prohibit the posting of flags and other items on state freeway overpass structures, said Capt. Noel Coady of the CHP’s Hollister-Gilroy Area office. Coady and other CHP officers visited the Burnett Avenue overpass on March 28, during another scheduled Friday political gathering—this one drawing a larger-than-usual crowd including counterprotesters organized in opposition to the Nazi flag.
“It is against the law, but it has not been enforced for a number of years,” Coady said of affixing or posting signs or flags to the overpass structure. “It was made clear (to March 28 demonstrators) that, going forward, that is going to be enforced.”
CHP officers at that time did not cite or arrest anyone for violations of the overpass law.
They were there “to ensure the peace was kept,” and to educate those present on the laws and rules about posting items to the overpass fence and surrounding structure, Coady said. The officers handed out pamphlets compiled by the CHP listing and describing the laws that could be enforced at the site.
“We had a peaceful time,” Coady said. “There was some acceptance that the Nazi flag that was flown was not attributed to or owned by the group there every week, commonly known as the ‘MAGA group.’ They made it clear they were not tied to that.
“We made it clear that everyone is entitled to free speech, but not hate speech… I hope, going forward, we’re not going to see any large-scale issues and, more importantly, not going to have any hate activity.”
A key goal of the freeway structure law is traffic and pedestrian safety, according to authorities. Coady said just during the few hours that CHP staff were at the overpass on March 28, at least five rear-end collisions happened among vehicles on Highway 101 just below the Burnett Avenue demonstrators.
Signs displayed on the overpass by demonstrators “were a huge distraction and contributed to drivers (being) unable to focus,” Coady said.
It did not appear that any of the collisions resulted in serious injuries, Coady said.
Coady listed a number of reasons why authorities until now have been lax in enforcing laws prohibiting the posting or attachment of items to the Burnett overpass. Some of those reasons have to do with the “convoluted mess” of different jurisdictions that cover the overpass.
The location is in unincorporated Morgan Hill, and the paved portion of the overpass is in the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s jurisdiction. Enforcement and response to calls at the location are shared by the sheriff’s office and CHP, Coady said. The Burnett overpass structure itself is in the CHP’s jurisdiction.
The Morgan Hill Police Department often responds to calls on the overpass due to its proximity to the city’s patrol area.
Furthermore, Coady said, officers who have responded in the past have inconsistent levels of training and experience, often making it difficult for them to determine what if any laws have been broken. Even a sign posted by Caltrans on the overpass fencing, facing the Burnett Avenue traffic lanes, is incorrect in its guidance of the law.
Add the fact that many of the potentially illegal postings are American flags—“It’s hard for anybody to look at an American flag and say it’s against the law,” Coady added.
But the captain candidly summarized this history of authorities turning their head from previous violations: “Law enforcement dropped the ball out there for several years. It is very easy to attribute that to something nefarious or some political skew among law enforcement…(But) there was a misconception as to who is responsible for what.”
Coady said he takes responsibility and will ensure the laws are enforced from now on. That includes working with the sheriff’s office, MHPD and other agencies to make sure their message is consistent.
On March 21, MHPD and sheriff’s deputies responded to calls reporting the Nazi flag, which was facing the southbound lanes of Highway 101. The sheriff’s office took charge of the investigation, and identified and interviewed the suspect who hung the flag.
The results of that investigation were sent to the district attorney’s office, which as of press time was still in the process of determining if the suspect should be charged with a crime.
The suspect has not been identified by law enforcement authorities. Social media users and regular pro-Trump demonstrators have insisted the Nazi flag suspect was not affiliated with the usual Friday overpass group.
The public display of a Nazi flag is illegal in California under certain circumstances, including whether the person responsible intended to promote or incite hate or violence, according to authorities.
