US Coast Guard Removes Boat Displaying Political Messages from New York Independence Day Parade

The United States Coast Guard announced on Saturday that it had removed a sailboat from a parade of sailboats celebrating Independence Day in New York Harbor because the boat displayed what were described as "messages of a political nature."

In an official statement, the Coast Guard explained that participants in the sailboat parade had agreed to the conditions set by the "Sail Fourth" event organizers. One of these conditions was a prohibition on displaying political or politically themed messages or statements.

The Coast Guard contacted the owner of the sailboat named Clearwater and requested that the message be removed. The owner was warned that failure to comply would result in exclusion from the parade. However, the owner refused to remove the message, according to Reuters.