LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The No Mask Nevada PAC held another rally in the Las Vega area on Saturday.
The group gathered at Sunset Park to show their support together as they oppose the state's current mask mandate amid the pandemic.
Rally-goers also said they have been informed about restrictions in Clark County when it comes to the freedoms of flying a flag with a so-called 'flag ban' ordinance.
“It’s like to you can tell people you can drive their cars but banning their tires, so a proper waving of the flag is pretty impossible depending on the size with the ordinance in place.”
Ian Bayne is a co-founder of the No Mask Nevada PAC and says LVMPD warned his group at a recent rally, the waving of large flags could violate county ordinances. He thought it meant banning the waving of the American flag.
‘They’ve carefully crafted a way to effectively and constructively to ban the waving of the American flag,” he said.
Friday, Clark County and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released a PSA to address the legality of flag-waving in the county. County officials say there is a misunderstanding on how the ordinance is being interpreted. Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft stressing the anti-mask group’s claims are not the case.
“I can assure you there is no law that restricts your right to wave the American flag or any other flag,” Naft said in the PSA.
Under Clark County’s ordinancewhich was passed in June of 2018, there are limits to the thickness of metal or plastic poles for flags, banners, and placards to 3/4-inch during protests. It’s one of the restricted items county officials feared could be used as weapons.
“In past protests, these larger poles and board have become weapons to hurt officers and citizens alike," LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Christopher Darcy said in the PSA.
Bayne says he would like to see Naft put language in the ordinance, specifically, exempting the American flag from restrictions. He says there are already rules in place in dealing with unruly actors.
“If there is a violent and unruly mob, the Constitution does not protect them. The Constitution protects peaceful assembly,” he said.
There were no incidents involving flag waving at Saturday's rally, according to Bayne.
HAPPENING NOW: A small group of anti-maskers are rallying at Sunset Park.
— @SeanKTNV (@seanktnv) August 29, 2020
They claim police and @ClarkCountyNV don’t want them to waive American flags because of an ordinance designed to keep weapons from the hands of protestors passed during #BLM protests.
Police are here. pic.twitter.com/VzFW7eZdLw
