A disabled Vietnam veteran thought his service to America meant something.
His own local government just proved him wrong.
And Leonard Amicola received one sick threat from village officials that shows how far the Left will go to silence Trump supporters.
Small-town tyrants target Trump supporter
Amicola, who has lived in the Westchester County village for 67 years, is refusing to back down after receiving a citation for displaying his "Trump is my President" banner.
The 67-year-old veteran told News12 Westchester that he’s already dealt with harassment from local leftist residents who have thrown rocks at his house and stolen his Trump flags.
"I did at one time have it on the pole, and one night somebody came and took it and it was gone," Amicola explained. "So that’s I think when I decided to put it up there – which is, they can’t get to it."
Now he’s moved his banner to a spot where the anti-Trump mob can’t reach it.
Village Mayor Brian Pugh claims this is simply a "straight forward code enforcement matter, not a free speech issue" based on a "longstanding prohibition on banners."
Pugh told News12 that at least 17 other local properties have been cited for violations – not just the veteran and Trump supporter.
But Amicola isn’t buying the official explanation and has hired attorney Roseann Schuyler to fight the citation.
"We believe that the village’s enforcement action is unfair, that it targets the content of his speech than simply the display," Schuyler told the outlet.
"We feel that his actions are protected under the First Amendment," she added.
Schuyler said Amicola will plead not guilty and continue to fight the citation – and warned that "it may be a matter we need to bring to federal court."
Village’s own records expose the double standard
Here’s where this gets really interesting – and infuriating.
The same village that’s now trying to silence Amicola’s Trump banner actually honored him with their own banner just two years ago.
In 2023, Amicola was selected by local government officials to participate in the Veterans Banner Program, which was "designed to honor village residents who have served in the armed forces."
That banner hailed Amicola as a "Hometown Hero" and was supposed to "serve as a reminder throughout the year of their courage and sacrifice for all residents of our village, state and country."
So let me get this straight – banners are perfectly fine when the village wants to use them for their own purposes, but suddenly become a "code enforcement matter" when a Vietnam veteran wants to express support for his President?
The hypocrisy is breathtaking.
What this really reveals about local government tyranny
Look, here’s what’s actually happening in Croton-on-Hudson – and it’s the same pattern we’re seeing in liberal enclaves across the country.
Local Democrat officials are using selective enforcement to target conservative residents while giving their progressive allies a free pass.
You think they’re going after every BLM banner or rainbow flag with the same enthusiasm? Not a chance.
This veteran served his country in Vietnam, came home to live peacefully in his community for nearly seven decades, and now he’s being harassed by his own neighbors and threatened by his own government – all because he supports the President of the United States.
The irony is that they literally celebrated this same man as a "Hometown Hero" when it served their political purposes. But the moment he exercises his First Amendment rights in a way they don’t like, suddenly he’s a code violator who needs to be shut down.
For folks who’ve been watching local governments weaponize ordinances against conservatives, this isn’t surprising – it’s predictable.
These people can’t win the argument, so they’re trying to silence the opposition with lawfare at the local level.
But here’s the thing about veterans like Leonard Amicola – they didn’t serve their country just to come home and have their constitutional rights trampled by petty tyrants in village hall.
This case could end up costing Croton-on-Hudson a fortune in federal court, and they’ll deserve every penny of the judgment against them.
The message from this small New York village is crystal clear: support the wrong politician, and your local government will find a way to come after you.
That’s not America – that’s banana republic territory.
¹ Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, "Disabled vietnam veteran fights NY village to keep ‘Trump is my president’ banner: ‘They can’t get to it’," New York Post, September 7, 2025.
