OCEAN CITY, Md. -- At a council meeting on Monday, a concerned woman spoke to town leaders about political flags on the beach and boardwalk. Estella Santos had walked by Trump flags, attempted to move them and got into a heated encounter with the flags owner.
It took place around the 8th street beach. Santos claimed the flags were tied to the boardwalk, which is not allowed, so she tried to move them onto the sand. That is when things got ugly and Santos ended up in front of the town council asking for a change.
"I am here tonight to ask that the mayor and city council reconsider the practice of permitting the placement and the flying of political flags on our beautiful Ocean City Beach," said Santos.
Santos said after trying to move the flags, she was confronted.
"At this point, a different man approached me and started swearing at me, he was calling me an [expletive] and other disgusting names," said Santos. "He gave me the middle finger. He asked me where my car was parked so he could go do damage to my personal property."
However, flags that show support for political candidates are allowed to be flown on public property. City Manager Terry McGean said that included the beach and boardwalk.
"There are very, very limited things that we can do to regulate that and I've heard it's the towns policy to allow it, no, it's the United States constitution that allows it and we need to respect that and we do," said McGean.
There are limitations to where flags can be placed.
"They cannot attach them to the boardwalk, they cannot be attached to what we call the beach boxes which are the big blue boxes that everybody's familiar with that the umbrellas and boogie boards get rented out of," said McGean.
Ocean City's attorney is looking into whether or not pollical flags can be left unattended. If the attorney finds they cannot be, it could be the only thing Ocean City officials can regulate.