JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A petition on Facebook has surfaced requesting a City of Jacksonville employee be fired after issuing a citation to a Jacksonville shop for flying military flags.
First Coast News got a hold of the original citation, which was signed by Melinda Power.
The store manager for Jaguar Power Sports, a motorcycle dealership at 4680 Blanding Blvd., posted a rant to social media Monday afternoon. His post quickly went viral.
"That's right, we just got a ticket ... for flying military flags," he said. " ... They told us to take them down or go to court over it. Are you serious right now?"
The manager for the store claims Power was also rude to one of its customers, a veteran, telling him "you did nothing for our country."
The Facebook group has gathered almost 1,000 users as of Tuesday morning. They also posted a screenshot of a Facebook page in which the user, Melinda Power, apologizes.
"I have the utmost respect for the military," the post read. "My father was a WWII Pow..."
That post has since been deleted.
Right after the City of Jacksonville caught wind of the citation, its Chief of Staff Brian Hughes said it was reviewing the facts of the case, as well as current ordinances regarding flags and signs.
The business was issued a warning, and was not fined. Warnings are issued to provide property owners information about a possible violation, and corrective action.
Hughes also noted that the mayor's office was in communication with the business. An employee told First Coast News that the mayor's office dropped the citations and the business is allowed to continue flying the flags. The employee also said the city told them they are investigating the claim about how the COJ employee acted toward the veteran.
About eight hours after the initial post, Jaguar Power Sports posted another video on its Facebook page announcing that the flags can stay.
Melissa Guz contributed to this report.