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Flag Trampled at Casino

KWGS News File photo

By Associated Press

Catoosa, OK –

CATOOSA, Okla. (AP) A Tulsa musician has been arrested after allegedly trampling an American flag during his act.

Records show the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service arrested Marion Gooding III, 30, lead guitarist with the band Smunty Voje, on Thursday at the Cherokee Casino.

The complaint was originally treating the U.S. flag with indignity, a felony under state law. It was later amended to outraging public decency, a misdemeanor.

Gooding, a non-Indian, was booked into the Rogers County Jail early Friday and released more than 12 hours later on a $500 bond. He has not been charged.

Rogers County Assistant District Attorney Patrick Abitbol says that while state law prohibits flag offenses, federal law protects it as a display of free speech.

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com