On November 25, 2024, the Edison Municipal Council convened for a scheduled meeting. During public comment, Attorney Joel Bassoff displayed a United States flag in protest of the Council's new rules banning "props" from being used at Council meetings (Ordinance 2239-2024). As a result of him displaying the flag, officers with the Edison Police Department were instructed by Council President Nishith Patel (a Democrat) to remove him from the meeting for allegedly breaching the rules of decorum. Once he was instructed to leave, Joel complied and there was no confrontation. Chief Tom Bryan later came and spoke with Joel. Chief Bryan acknowledged that Council President Nishith Patel was putting his officers in a "tough position" but they had to follow through on his orders. Joel was later instructed to leave the building as well because the building was closed at that time and he had no reason to be in the building because he was ejected from the Council meeting. Joel ultimately complied with the officers' orders to leave the building as well. According to multiple reports, Nishith Patel later apologized and Edison Mayor Sam Joshi (a Democrat) acknowledged that United States flags will not be prohibited during Council meetings. --------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Our content is shared for educational and news gathering purposes. We are in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2024, c.16). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. The New Jersey Supreme Court has previously affirmed in Salzano v. North Jersey Media Group, 993 A.2d 778 (2010) that “The fair-report privilege reflects the judgment that the need, in a self-governing society, for free-flowing information about matters of public interest outweighs concerns over the uncompensated injury to a person's reputation.” This video advances a compelling public interest. The summary of events was based on records that are “open to public view through open access to public records” as defined in the Salzano case. In Ramos v. Flowers, 429 N.J. Super. 13, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court has also affirmed the right to film law enforcement interactions.