A Michigan man says he has burned a New Jersey flag to protest Gov. Chris Christie's decision to lower flags to honor late singing star Whitney Houston.
“It was $12.95 and it was the best money I ever spent,” John Burri of Wyoming, Mich., told the Detroit News.
Burri's son was killed while on patrol in Iraq in 2005. He tells the Detroit News that he drove to nearby Grand Rapids to buy a New Jersey flag and then burned it on his outdoor grill.
Burri tells the newspaper Christie's decision was a slap in the face and cheapened the meaning of lowering the flag.
"I didn't do this to offend the people of New Jersey," Burri told the Detroit News. "If I did and you're offended, I'm sorry. But I did this because it was wrong and it was to show the governor (of New Jersey) how wrong this was."
Christie received criticism from people who noted Houston's admitted drug use and said the honor should be reserved for soldiers killed in action.
Christie described Houston, who was born in Newark and raised in nearby East Orange, as a “cultural icon” who belongs in the same category of New Jersey music history as Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen.
Christie said Houston's struggles with substance abuse don't negate the huge impact she made.
“Her accomplishments were a great source of pride for the people of the state,” Christie said last week. "On that basis, I think she's entitled to have that recognition made for her."
Houston died Feb. 11 in Beverly Hills.
