An Ohio lawmaker wants to make flag planting a serious crime.
State Representative Josh Williams has introduced the Ohio Sportsmanship Act, a bill that is aiming at making flag planting in the state of Ohio a felony. This follows the Ohio State-Michigan brawl November on 30 in Columbus. Williams says he was not impressed with the punishments doled out.
“At first I was hoping the NCAA or the Big Ten would address this with adequacy, but seeing them fine simply the university’s $100,000 a piece wasn’t sufficient,” Williams said.
Williams says schools should be required to implement policies laying out punishments for flag planting.
According to the Associated Press, the proposal from Williams comes after the “fight at the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry football game when the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes 13-10 and then attempted to plant their flag at midfield. A fight ensued and police had to use pepper spray to disperse the players.”
