LA PORTE, Texas – For Eli Laurendine, proudly displaying the Stars and Stripes in black and blue on his truck is a symbol of support.
"I've got many police officers real close to my family that we consider family, that we support, and this is the reason for our flag," Laurendine said.
Laurendine was caught off guard when he went to work at the DuPont plant in La Porte as he's done for nearly two weeks with the flag on display, but this time he was approached by supervisors.
"They said we need to ask, DuPont security asked that if you would go remove it," Laurendine said.
Shocked by the request, Laurendine then asked why he had to remove it.
"Their response was just in case you know, we let you fly your flag, and everybody else wants to fly their flags. We could eventually, you know, people come up here with rainbow flags or rebel flags, such as that," Laurendine said.
Laurendine said security claimed there was a company policy that prevented him from having the flag on display.
So we reached out to DuPont's corporate office to get clarification.
They in turn released a statement that reads in part:
"DuPont does not have a corporate-wide policy on displaying flags, or symbols. There is no policy at La Porte that would have banned the gentleman from displaying the flag, and there was no company directive that he remove it."
Laurendine isn't sure if someone complained or was offended by his back the blue flag.
Either way, he says considering corporate appears to be OK with it, he'll keep bringing it.
"It's my belief and my support. I'm going to continue to fly my flag," Laurendine said.