Michael Wasserman wants to let his freedom fly — but his town of Long Beach, LI, isn’t having it.
“I believe the city is trying to silence me because I’m pro-Trump,” he told The Post.
The 62-year-old entrepreneur has become known in the area for plastering his home — along with his Porsche and Jeep — with a rotating variety of political flags and stickers.
Now he has filed a $25 million federal suit — against the City of Long Beach, the chief of police, the city manager and specific police officers — after officials forced him to remove the flags on his cars.
The town claims they are a violation of an ordinance stating that “[No] sign shall be erected, affixed or maintained within the perimeter of any … public street or public property.” Wasserman parks his car on a public street outside his home.
“They’re bending and massaging the ordinance to fit the crime,” Wasserman told The Post. “This is a blatant attempt to silence me.”
The town’s lawyer, Howard M. Miller, told The Post: “It’s not a political case. It’s not the contents of the message. it’s where he had it — it’s a public street.”
Wasserman — who said police have visited his home multiple times since March, giving reasons from neighbor complaints to violation of ordinances — believes he is targeted for being a conservative.
“[People] spit at me, drive by cursing me out,” he said of local residents. His Porsche, which is decorated with stickers — including one depicting Trump urinating on a CNN logo — is marred with scratches from people keying it.
But, he said, all the hate only strengthens his resolve.
“If they didn’t try to cancel me, I probably wouldn’t be so prolific,” Wasserman told The Post, wearing a legally permitted gun, a $400 Kevlar bulletproof vest and a body camera because of “death notes on my car.”
“There’s so much vitriol, hate and anger from [from liberals],” he added. “Aren’t they supposed to be inclusive of everyone? They’re not.”
Lawyer Victor Feraru, a self-described “liberal Democrat” who said he has taken heat for representing Wasserman, told The Post that they are suing on the grounds of selective enforcement and discrimination.
“We wouldn’t be here if he were flying a Biden flag,” Feraru said. “This is … selective targeting for his political ideology.”
A pre-motion hearing is pending, and Wasserman’s team expects defendants to file a motion to dismiss.
A longtime Democrat, Wasserman switched parties in 2004 to vote for George W. Bush. He said he’s been flying flags for over a decade, including Tea Party flags, Marine flags, pro-cop flags and the Gadsden (”Don’t Tread on Me”) flag, which started as an anti-British sentiment during the Revolutionary War but has become controversial in recent years.
When The Post visited Thursday, he was flying “F–k Biden” banners, the profanity of which has caused neighbors to complain to police. The town admitted in a March 21 statement that the “profane language .. is considered constitutionally protected.”
But Wasserman won’t be stopped.
“I’m standing up for my constitutional liberties,” said Wasserman. “All they try to do is cancel you.”