Garwood man removes Islamic group-linked flag

GARWOOD (AP) -- A Garwood man took down a black flag with Arabic letters he's been flying outside his home for 10 years after complaints arose on Twitter about its association with Islamic militants.

Mark Dunaway told News 12 New Jersey that the flag basically says: "There is only one God. It is Allah. And the Prophet Muhammed is his messenger."

Dunaway said Muslims in America "face hatred," but the Twitter comments were the first time he had ever heard complaints about the flag. He said his flag has nothing to do with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, which has adopted the banner as it fights in Iraq.

"I think it's not right at this time to be flying that type of flag," neighbor James McHugh said. "Especially with what's going on at this time."

But other neighbors were more concerned that some people want to burn the flag.

"The comments people are making are more frightening than the flag he put up," Diane Figueiredo said.

A Garwood police officer told Dunaway about the tweets on Wednesday. Dunaway said the officer told him he could keep flying the flag and to call him if he had problems.

Dunaway instead replaced it with an American flag in the colors of the San Diego Chargers.

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