A 75-year-old veteran was acquitted Tuesday of desecrating Veterans Administration property after he illegally hung two napkin-sized American flags along a fence during a 2016 Memorial Day protest.
Robert Rosebrock and other veterans have met in front of the Great Lawn Gate for nine years to protest what they say is a failure of the VA to fully use the park property to benefit homeless veterans.
Rosebrock was cited for hanging two small flags along the fence last Memorial Day under a VA statute that denies posting materials on VA property unless authorized.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Steve Kim ruled that Rosebrock was not guilty of the violation and said that the regulation violates the First Amendment.
"(I'm) honored that the flag was exonerated and for once the veterans got a victory," Rosebrock told KNBC after the trial.
The federal misdemeanor carried a six-month maximum penalty.
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