'Freedom of speech': MAGA store owner faces eviction over code violations — but claims it's political

14 May

Trump supporter, Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, U.S., April 29, 2025. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Business-owner Lisa Fleischmann said her business, Trump and Truth Store, in Huntley, Illinois, is being persecuted. The property owner says Fleischmann’s letting her merchandise spill onto the sidewalk, and wants her gone.

Court records show the owner of the building, Ricky Lynfield Inc., filed to evict Fleischmann from the property in March, complaining of display practices that violate the lease agreement. But Fleischmann has refused to keep her merchandise, which consists of an assortment of Trump flags, chairs, a trailer and a giant inflatable ‘Trump’, inside her store despite numerous requests by the landlord and the Village of Huntley.

“Instead, she displays many items on the public sidewalk and outside of the building along the street,” the complaint said.

Fleischmann admits she is “facing four ordinance violations” over “the American flag,” a "Make America Great Again" yard sign, table and chairs, a giant Trump balloon, “and my trailer,” but insists she’s being unfairly targeted by village officials for her political beliefs.

“We have to show people that we can’t be walked on,” she told the Chicago Tribune. “This is freedom of speech. This is my business. I make money to support my livelihood… . They can’t discriminate.”

She says she’s fighting the eviction in court.

“Why do they get to tell me I can’t put something on to bring more customers in and let them know that I’m here? Why?” Fleischmann said. “Because somebody wanted to make a bunch of rules a long time ago and now we’ve got to follow all these rules and businesses get walked on.”

Fleischmann insists “my flag is not in the right-of-way,” as complaints suggest, and claims other stores “display even more signage and flags,” but she is being “targeted due to the name ‘Trump.’" But the Tribune reports Huntley officials claim they’ve been trying to work with Fleischmann for the past year to install a permanent sign that complies with sign ordinances governing the village.

A lawyer representing the landlord said the March eviction filing has nothing to do with the business owner’s political leanings or the type of merchandise the store sells.

Read the full Chicago Tribune report here.

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