Controversial car
Veteran heads to court over stickers.Lejeune worker sues over car banBy Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 18, 2008 5:43:43 EST
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Jesse Nieto doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve.
Instead, the retired gunnery sergeant uses car decals to express his contempt for the terrorists who killed his son, Engineman 2nd Class Marc Ian Nieto, along with 16 other sailors in the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the destroyer Cole in Yemen.
But the stickers maligning Islamic terrorism, which have adorned Nieto’s car for more than seven years, were recently deemed “offensive material” under a base order at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he has worked in the Electrical Distribution Shop since 1994.
Military police removed some of the stickers in August, before the base magistrate ordered Nieto to remove the rest. The former infantryman, who served two tours in Vietnam, refused and now he is contesting the order’s legality in federal court.
Claiming a violation of his First and Fifth Amendment rights, Nieto is suing Lejeune’s commander, Col. Richard Flatau, and the base magistrate, Lt. Col. James Hessen. The complaint was filed Nov. 10 in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of North Carolina.
Rest of article at:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/11/marine_islam_protest_111808w/%2e